Ferdy welcomes return of Kalahari King

Kalahari King makes his long-awaited seasonal reappearance at Doncaster tomorrow.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase hopeful was narrowly beaten in last season's Arkle Trophy before going on to win the Grade 1 Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree.

But trainer Ferdy Murphy has been frustrated by the weather and minor injuries to the nine-year-old. Though he brought him to the boil for the Cheltenham Festival last year, he faces a battle to get him spot on this time.

Murphy said: "He had an infection just before he was scheduled to return at Kelso and on top of that he had a splint injury.

"We got him back and then we had 16 inches of snow for two-and-a-half weeks followed by lots of rain."

To beat the cold snap, Kalahari King, who will shoulder top weight of 11st 12lb in the extended two-mile Blue Square Handicap Chase, travelled 25 miles to Redcar to work on the beach 14 times in a three-week period.

Though Kalahari King is the classiest performer in the race, his fitness is an obvious concern after a 287-day lay-off, so a bit of value may be had in following OISEAU DE NUIT (3.25pm).

Colin Tizzard may be stepping the improving eight-year-old up in class but he is a progressive type.