Paul Kealy's play of the day at Ascot

Plenty of water has flowed under the bridge since the Kim Bailey-trained 11-year-old reached the zenith of his career by romping to a seven-length victory in the 2021 Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at Ascot, but even in fleeting appearances over the last couple of seasons he has shown he retains his share of talent.

He'll need to as he's still rated 158, but he deserves to be based on his four-length second conceding 2lb to the 168-rated Hewick on the final day of last season at Sandown.

That was over 2m6½f and he was outstayed after the last, but it was still a big run (on Racing Post Ratings the third-best of his 18 chase starts) and the question now is whether he retains the speed to cope with the drop right back to 2m1f as the last time he tried that trip he was a well-beaten third.

That was in the 2022 Clarence House which featured that spell-binding finish between Shishkin and Energumene, though, and it's fair to say few horses ever reach their level at 2m.

This is the earliest in the season Bailey has managed to get him back on the track for four years, so hopefully that's a sign he's had clear run with him for once, and we know he goes well fresh as he won a similar race to this here on his return in 2020, took the Peterborough first time out in 2021 and finished third in it last year.

Only once in the last two seasons has he managed to get the proper soft ground he wants – when third to Shishkin and Energumene – but he gets it now, and with a record of ten wins from 18 outings on soft or heavy (6-8 on heavy) he has to be worth considering.