L'Ami Serge has Arkle prep at Warwick

L'Ami Serge will face just two rivals as he puts his Arkle credentials on the line in Saturday's 7bets4free.com Kingmaker Novices' Chase at Warwick.

Nicky Henderson's six-year-old was a Grade One winner over hurdles last season but came up short behind Douvan in the Supreme at Cheltenham.

Willie Mullins' excellent novice chaser once again looms large on the horizon, but Henderson is eager for his charge to gain more experience before he looks that far ahead.

Having won both his starts over fences at Plumpton and Wetherby, he faces a stiffer test given in taking on Fox Norton and Violet Dancer, who are rated 148 and 143 respectively.

L'Ami Serge has also been declared for the Game Spirit at Newbury in case Warwick is beaten by the weather.

"L'Ami Serge will run in the Kingmaker at Warwick and then onto the Arkle, which has always been his aim," said Henderson.

"Although he's run and won twice over fences, he still needs more experience as both were races where fences were omitted due to the weather and he was very much the best horse in the race taking on inferior opposition."

Jockey Daryl Jacob has been impressed with L'Ami Serge to date and despite his ability to handle very soft ground, he does not believe he needs testing conditions to be seen at his best.

"He's outclassed his opposition in two runs over fences so far, so hopefully we'll know a lot more after this," said Jacob.

"There might be a bit more pace on rather than having to make his own running and he needs more experience if he's going to Cheltenham.

"Touch wood, he's jumped well so far and he schooled nicely when I went down on Tuesday. He's in good form.

"This was always the race we wanted to run him in as it fits in nicely before Cheltenham, you wouldn't really want to be running any closer.

"He's up against two nice horses - Violet Dancer won the Betfair last year and I rode Fox Norton last time, he's a nice horse. It's certainly stronger opposition than he's faced to date.

"People think he needs soft ground, but I schooled him on the all-weather and he really pointed his toe out.

"The quicker ground certainly wasn't the reason he was beaten in the Supreme last year. Barry (Geraghty) said that everything that could go wrong did go wrong that day.

"We just need to get this out of the way and then we can start thinking of Cheltenham."