Nicky Henderson reports Sprinter Sacre to be A1 following his comeback run in the Sodexo Clarence House Chase at Ascot on Saturday.
The 2013 Queen Mother Champion Chase hero may have been beaten into second place by Dodging Bullets but his trainer was pleased with the performance as the nine-year-old had been absent since suffering well-documented heart problems after being pulled up at Kempton 13 months ago.
Sprinter Sacre was found to be have suffered a small bleed after the race which Henderson did not think was too serious and he is satisfied with the condition of his star two-miler.
"Most importantly he's fine this morning. He's been out and looked very perky.
"He was great, he trotted up, was very bouncy and full of it. I think it's safe to say he enjoyed himself," the Seven Barrows handler told At The Races.
"He's sound and his legs are good. He ate up and did all the right things. No damage done which is always a relief.
"It was great to see him out and everyone was pleased with what he did."
Traces of blood were found coming from Sprinter Sacre's nose, but exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage is a common occurrence in racehorses.
"We'd have preferred it not to have happened. There was a show of blood in his nostrils when he was being routine tested and we scoped him after that," said Henderson.
"We don't want to see it. It's not ideal, but on the scope the significance of the score didn't seem to be too dramatic. It was probably acceptable.
"There was no mucus which was important - there was quite a bit of Ascot racecourse, which there always will be with kickback and mud flying.
"They are bound to have a bit of all sorts of things breathed in and there was a bit of blood there.
"I think we can accept that. It didn't affect him or his performance.
"We did weigh him and he was comparative to where he has been in the past. He was more than 80% fit and there is bound to be improvement.
"He didn't blow up as such, but what he did do was get tired.
"They set a searching gallop yesterday and went out to test his fitness. That is perfectly fair game. The time was respectable, they went a good gallop and they are good horses.
"There is more to come and there is improvement. We weren't pretending he was back to his very best.
"In the autumn we knew he wasn't, but gradually it's been coming.
"You've got to let a horse find his best form. It's a work in progress. He's been pleasing us.
"There is more to come and there is improvement. We weren't pretending he was back to his very best."
"Newbury (where he worked last month) was a huge step forward and yesterday was another one."
While Sprinter Sacre will not run again before the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase on 11 March, Henderson has not ruled out giving him a racecourse gallop.
"There is no other race he can run in between now and the Festival except for Newbury (the Game Spirit Chase)," he said.
"We're hardly going to go to Newbury in three weeks' time. That would be suicide. You could go to a racecourse.
"I don't think he particularly needs to, but we could take quite a lot of the Cheltenham horses that are not going to run again before the Festival. There would be quite a few to go to the racecourse.
"I wouldn't rule it out, but I wouldn't rule it in at the moment.
"What we are definitely going to do is have a quiet week to 10 days and then we will start the build-up. That is why the timing of yesterday was perfect for us.
"He's had a fairly intense build-up which is why he was more than 80% fit. He was probably nearer 90%.
"He just got tired yesterday and we feel that's perfectly acceptable, going that gallop in that ground in his first race really since Punchestown the year before last as he only went for a mile at Kempton (in December 2013).
"Realistically I was very satisfied and pleased to see him back.
"There was that moment turning in when you just thought a miracle was going to happen. It would have been fantastic.
"I think it's realistic for him to regain his crown at Cheltenham. We have lots to do.
"Dodging Bullets won the Tingle Creek and has now put up two cracking performance. We've got to find a couple of lengths. You'd like to think we've got that in our pocket somewhere.
"Now you've got Sire De Grugy to come as well and then the final piece of the jigsaw for us all to meet together in March.
"It could be one of the great races. That day we've got to be 100% or even more. I think we're on track.
"It would be great if they all meet and it would be one of the spectacles of the Festival."
