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Tom George was delighted to see a glimpse of the old Clondaw Castle when he made his return from a long layoff at Kempton.
The 11-year-old, who has won five times over the larger obstacles, had been off the track since finishing a well-beaten fourth in the Betfair Chase in 2021 when making his comeback in the Grade Two Silviniaco Conti Chase earlier this month.
Although no match for the emphatic winner Pic D'Orhy, he kept on resolutely for second, which gives the Slad Valley-based handler plenty of cause for optimism moving forwards.
"We were pleased with him," said Tom George. "Obviously he had been off the track for a long time but his old zest was there and I was happy with him.
"It was a good comeback run and we can start to think about some races in the spring now."
Clondaw Castle finished second to Master Tommytucker in the same Kempton event in 2021 before returning to the Sunbury track to win the prestigious Coral Trophy handicap a month later.
George has highlighted that race as a possibility once again, as well as the Randox Topham Chase at the Grand National Festival in April.
He added: "He loves that track (Kempton) so that race is high on our list and realistically he is going to struggle to win a graded race so there's not that many options. But we might think about the Topham as well at Aintree."