The Jukebox Man on course for Kauto Star at Kempton

The Jukebox Man will contest the three-mile Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton over Christmas, although Ben Pauling does not believe a staying campaign is a foregone conclusion for the rest of the season.

Second in the Albert Bartlett last season, he reappeared over two and a half miles when making his chasing debut at Newbury.

He put up a sparkling display there and Pauling would not be afraid of running him over two miles at some stage, but feels the Kempton Grade One is the right race for him now.

“All is good, we’ve decided we’ll go to Kempton on Boxing Day with him,” Pauling told Sky Sports Racing.

“It was a real headscratcher whether I even dropped him back to two miles he showed so much speed that day, on ground that was as quick as he’d run on for us.

“He’s a very versatile horse and a very exciting horse to have, he’s in great order and he’ll be ready for the Kauto Star.

“Jumping was his ace card, very much so. I said all year I didn’t think we needed to go three miles with him as he’s got enough speed to come back and he’s proved that, but at the same time there’s not an awful lot of options over two and a half miles that suit where I really want to run him.

“We can say what a shame the two-and-a-half-mile race has gone (at the Cheltenham Festival) as that would have been ideal. But we are now back to what it used to be, so we’re thinking do we go two or three and just because we’re going three at Christmas doesn’t mean we’ll go three in March, so we’ve a lot of options but he’s in good order.”