THISTLECRACK is more likely to run in the Grade One novice chase at Kempton on Boxing Day rather than the 32Red King George VI Chase following his win at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Last season’s champion staying hurdler made it two from two over fences in facile fashion, although he did make a couple of jumping errors.

Colin Tizzard’s star performer is set to run at Newbury’s Hennessy meeting before going to Kempton where the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase is the preferable objective at this stage rather than the big race of the day.

“He’s absolutely fine. He’s 100 per cent. He ate up when he got home and didn’t have a particularly hard race,” Joe Tizzard, the trainer’s son and assistant, told at The Races.

“We saw the race as a positive. The overall performance was impressive as ever. We purposely took him to Cheltenham on his second run to get experience there over fences.

“I had a long chat with Tom Scudamore. He was in second gear and was going too well.

“The first ditch he’s had a little guess at it and come up a fraction early. The second one he got there. If he’s going to stand off, he gets there.

“It’s all part of the learning curve and I think in a truer-run race those issues wouldn’t have happened and certainly once Tom let him bowl on and go that extra gear faster, he was a lot more accurate.

“We want to get plenty of experience into him so we’re going to go to the novice chase at the Hennessy meeting and then he’ll head to Kempton on Boxing Day.

“There are no definites on which race he’ll go for yet, but at the moment I’d say dad and I are swaying towards the Feltham (Kauto Star Novices’ Chase).”