Sire De Grugy is firmly on course for the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury next month after delighting trainer Gary Moore in a strong piece of work on Saturday morning.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase hero has not run since winning at Sandown in April last year, having his plans for this season disrupted by a setback.

Moore conceded earlier this week that his stable star was "not as fit as I'd like him at this stage" ahead of his planned return on February 7, but the West Sussex handler was in more buoyant mood after a much improved display on the gallops this morning.

He said: "He was very good this morning. I was very pleased.

"It was a nice piece of work and what he did this morning compared to what he did on Wednesday - it was a hell of a lot better.

"We'll get a couple more bits of work into him in the next couple of weeks and hopefully he'll be ready for Newbury then."