The curtain comes down on the 2022-23 jumps season at Sandown where Frodon can shine once more in the featured bet365 Gold Cup.
The 11-year-old, together with jockey Bryony Frost, have become one of National Hunt Racing's most enduring and endearing partnerships.
The King George VI Chase winner of 2020, the front-running Paul Nicholls-trained Frodon will likely set out to make this extended three-and-a-half-mile handicap a thorough test.
The evergreen gelding, who has won over £1.1 million in prizemoney, is still a very capable conveyance and has fallen just once and won 17 times from a total of 41 chase starts since joining the Shepton Mallet yard from France.
Though he has won just once from five runs this term – in the Badger Beer Chase over three miles and one furlong at Wincanton in November – he has been placed on three other occasions.
The fact that he has not tried a trip this far before should not mean he does not have the stamina for it and the hope is Frodon's class, consistency and accurate jumping can reap dividends in a race where some of his rivals have bigger question marks against them.
Last year's bet365 Gold Cup hero Hewick can make a successful return to the track in the Grade Two be365 Oaksey Chase for trainer Shark Hanlon.
The eight-year-old bypassed the Punchestown Gold Cup in midweek to run in this, having run well for a long way in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Though he fell two out when beginning to tire in the Cotswolds, it was a cracking effort from the Galway Plate and American Grand National hero, who is rated 10lb or more superior to his rivals this weekend, making him very much the one to beat.
The Grade One bet365 Celebration Chase has attracted a field of five, where the exciting Jonbon has his first start outside of novice company.
Nicky Henderson's star barely saw another rival as he sauntered to victory in the Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree a fortnight ago and while last year's winner Greaneteen will prove a tough nut to crack, he was beaten a long way when third in the Champion Chase last month.
On the day he will be crowned champion trainer for a 14th time, Nicholls appears to hold a pair of aces in the bet365 Josh Gifford Novices' Handicap Chase, with Cap Du Mathan narrowly preferred to stablemate Quel Destin.
Ultra consistent, the selection has won twice and finished second three times from seven starts over fences and has been unfortunate in his last two outings, getting touched off at Wincanton and Kempton.
Harry Cobden has been booked to ride, jumping off stablemate Quel Destin, who was a neck runner-up in a Grade Three over the course and distance last time.
Thyme Hill reverts to hurdling after seemingly not firing in the Turners Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last time out.
Runner-up in the Long Walk and Stayers' Hurdle last season, co-trainers Philip Hobbs and Johnson White pitch the nine-year-old into the Grade Two bet365 Select Hurdle and he looks to hold a decent chance of making it six wins from 12 in this sphere.
On the Flat at Ripon, the Silver Sprint Trophy looks well within the compass of Vintage Clarets, who did not get a clear run when runner-up to Silky Wilkie at Musselburgh on his seasonal bow.
Similarly little went right for Pride Of Priory at Kempton last time and he can make amends in the M.C.H. Hutchinson Memorial Trophy Handicap.
Haydock's seven-race card sees the return of If Not Now in the Darley Novice Stakes. The Ralph Beckett-trained son of Iffraaj made a pleasing winning introduction when scoring over a mile at Salisbury in September and the step up to an extended mile and three furlongs should be right up the Irish Derby entrant's ally.
Montassib was quietly fancied for the Lincoln, but didn't break well and hung. He ran some fine races in defeat last term, including when narrowly denied over a mile on similar ground at Haydock in September, so is worth another try in the seven-furlong Join Racing TV Now Handicap.
Montassib's trainer, William Haggas, may also have a winner at Leicester, where Lincoln favourite and eventual fifth Al Mubhir looks the one for the money in the Madri Excepcional Kin Richard III Cup Handicap, with William Buick a notable jockey booking.
The James Tate-trained sprinter Always Tomorrow looks the pick of Wolverhampton's all-weather evening card and while fitness must be taken on trust, he can keep his unbeaten record in the At The Races App Market Movers Restricted Novice Stakes.
SELECTIONS:
DONCASTER: 5.10 Totnes, 5.40 Roshambo, 6.15 Lingo Lady, 6.45 Bernardo O'Reilly, 7.15 Divine Comedy, 7.45 Roost, 8.15 Cinque Verde.
HAYDOCK: 1.30 Arcadian Nights, 2.05 Stalingrad, 2.40 If Not Now, 3.15 Stormy Sea, 3.45 Montassib, 4.20 Signcastle City, 4.55 Roman Spring.
LEICESTER: 1.55 Spanish Phoenix, 2.30 Mordor, 3.05 Al Mubhir, 3.40 Cold Stare, 4.15 United Force, 4.50 Silastar, 5.25 Bama Lama.
PUNCHESTOWN: 2.35 Stealthy Tom, 3.10 Enjoy D'allen, 3.50 Echoes In Rain, 4.25 Sam Brown, 5.00 Lossiemouth, 5.30 An Epic Song, 6.05 Sorrentino, 6.40 Stuzzikini.
RIPON: 2.25 Qandil, 3.00 Bleak, 3.35 The Predictor, 4.10 Vintage Clarets, 4.40 Pride Of Priory, 5.15 Oh Herberts Reign, 5.50 Eternal Class.
SANDOWN: 1.05 Beau Balko, 1.40 Jonbon, 2.15 Frodon, 2.50 HEWICK (NAP), 3.25 Cap Du Mathan, 4.00 Thyme Hill, 4.35 Iceo.
WOLVERHAMPTON: 6.00 Storm Asset, 6.30 One For The Frog, 7.00 Wedgewood, 7.30 Always Tomorrow, 8.00 Jenny Ren, 8.30 Crazy Spin, 9.00 Latent Heat.
DOUBLE: Hewick and Always Tomorrow
