'It's worth a go' says Nicholls as Frodon returns in hot Down Royal contest

"Nothing's easy" for Frodon these days, Paul Nicholls acknowledged as his tough and resilient chaser began the journey over to Down Royal for the Ladbrokes Champion Chase on Saturday.

A 20-1 winner of the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day, Frodon is starting his season in a hot-looking contest in the expectation it will put him spot on for another tilt at the feature race of Kempton's Christmas meeting.

"Last year he ran in a handicap at Cheltenham en route to Kempton," said Nicholls, explaining his thinking about the 167-rated horse. "This year, handicaps are out. This is a nice race to have runners in, we've always supported it over the years and it seemed the ideal race to run him.