Tom George is excited about what might lay ahead for Nacarat after his brilliant display in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.
The grey lined up in West Yorkshire without a victory to his name since landing the 2009 Racing Post Chase, having repeatedly come up slightly short at the highest level.
However, George had hinted that this could be the season the nine-year-old reached the peak of his powers, with a new training regime having put an end to the countless shoulder problems he had encountered in the past.
Ollie Magern, bidding for a remarkable hat-trick in the race following successes in 2005 and 2007, was sent into his customary front-running role, with Nacarat settled in second by Sam Thomas.
As the veteran began to feel the pinch heading down the back straight for a second time, a bold-jumping Nacarat (6-1) took up the running and soon had all of his rivals hard at work.
There was a brief moment of worry for his supporters as he landed on all fours after jumping the third-last, but he quickly regained his momentum and powered up the Wetherby straight to score by four lengths from The Tother One, with last year's winner Deep Purple third.
A rematch with Kauto Star in the King George VI Chase at Kempton, in which he finished fourth last year, is now high on the agenda.
‘We've had a much easier preparation with him this year and I'm delighted the hard work everyone has put in has done the trick,’ said George.
‘He has worked just like a normal horse in the past but now he's working like a good horse and I hope there is a lot more to come, as he will improve for this.
‘In the past we have actually had to take him to the gallops in the horsebox as he couldn't even trot, but he is much better now.
‘The ground has helped him and we'll have to decide where we run him next, but the King George has to be high on his list of targets.
‘We'll obviously have to improve to get the better of Kauto, but without him I think we'd have been a good winner of the race last year.
‘We'll see how he is before we decide if he runs again before then.’
Thomas added: ‘He travelled like a dream and jumped fantastic.
‘We knew he had a good chance, but he has surprised me a bit with the way he's done it. You have to be impressed.’
