Bacchanal will bid to fill a rare hole in Nicky Henderson's training achievements in the Pertemps King George VI Chase on St Stephen's Day.
The seven-year-old gelding booked his place in the line-up for the Kempton feature when making a winning reappearance in the Future Stars Steeple Chase at Sandown yesterday.
Sent off the 4 to 9 favourite, he came into the race with doubts surrounding his fitness and fencing, but he silenced any such concerns with a forthright success.
JP MacNamara sent Granit D'Estruval into the lead at the start of the back straight but Bacchanal's rider, Mick Fitzgerald, refused to panic and his mount eased back into the lead approaching the third-last fence.
With Granit D'Estruval covered, Fitzgerald looked over his shoulder to check on the location of Be My Manager, obviously unaware that his sole other rival had crashed out with over a mile to run.
Out in front on his own, Bacchanal jumped the final two fences with the same fluency he had handled the first 15 and last year's winner of the Stayers' Hurdle scored by 26 lengths.
"He's not fit, you saw him in the paddock, he looked like a bull," said trainer Nicky Henderson. "I am thrilled to see him jump like that. He was brilliant and he's getting better all the time."
