Javert comeback victory in feature chase has Lavelle thinking of Cheltenham

Despite an absence of 869 days, the Emma Lavelle-trained Javert proved good enough to make a winning comeback in the feature 2m4f handicap chase and may have earned himself a tilt at the BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November.

The nine-year-old had not been seen since posting a comfortable victory at Haydock in May 2016, but there was no sign of any ring-rustiness as he stayed on in pleasing style under Leighton Aspell to see off Crievehill.

Lavelle explained the layoff saying: "He was back in training in the autumn of 2016 but picked up a tendon injury which kept him off for a year, and when we got him back conditions were against him last winter as he must have decent ground, so we called it a day."