Defi Du Seuil "couldn’t be better" as he heads into Saturday's rematch with Un De Sceaux in the Matchbook Clarence House Chase at Ascot.
Philip Hobbs' charge edged out the Irish raider, a three-time winner of the weekend feature, by a neck in the Betfair Tingle Creek Chase and his trainer reports him to be giving all the right signals at home this time around.
"He schooled yesterday and worked this morning and it was all very good. Everything couldn’t be better with him," he said on Tuesday morning.
Looking back on the Tingle Creek Hobbs said: “I thought between the last two that he’d go and win well but he just got a bit lonely after jumping the last.”
Defi Du Seuil is set to face testing ground at the Berkshire track and was well-beaten in his only previous start there when sent off 10/11 for the 2017 Coral Hurdle.
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“He only had two runs that season and was definitely below par - but he bounced back well last season," the trainer said.
"He’s coped very well with soft ground in the past so I don’t see that as a problem. The soft ground will make it more of a test of stamina which is fine as far as we are concerned, as we know he stays two and a half miles.
"He's won on soft ground plenty of times before including the Future Champions Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow which he won very, very easily in desperate conditions and also the Scilly Isles at Sandown a year ago."
Defi Du Seuil holds entries in both the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase and Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham and Hobbs added: "He’s a very tough horse and he could probably run more often but at the same time, Cheltenham is obviously the main objective and you don’t want to be going too often to the well beforehand."
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