Surprise Chester Cup winner No Heretic could return to Royal Ascot three years after his run in the Queen Alexandra Stakes in 2013.
The 11/1 shot seemed to pull hard for the majority of the two miles and two furlongs at Chester on Wednesday but stayed on well to win by a nose.
Having not run on the flat since September 2013, No Heretic was expected to improve from this run and now a big summer lies ahead with Royal Ascot and the Ascot Stakes the aim three years after finishing sixth behind Chiberta King at the Royal meeting.
Nicky Henderson had a superb season over jumps but is now helping the flat horses come to the fore and the trainer was delighted with his colt at Chester.
"It was a fantastic effort. He is a real individual and, as you saw in the race, he didn't give Jamie Spencer any respite,” Henderson told Sporting Life.
"He is quite good at home but he can get stewed up about life. I think the hood helped him. We are not hard on him at home, it is just a case of keeping him to a routine. He took a long time to learn about jumping, to be fair, as he was always in a bit of a rush.
"He is a good jumper at home now but we will probably keep him on the Flat now and keep that up our sleeve for the autumn. He obviously stays fairly well.
"He was a wounded soldier but it is great to see him come back. He didn't really settle at all, and I should think he pulled Jamie's arm-sockets out, but he was still travelling well at three (furlongs) out. Jamie did a great job. He said this morning that he would pull, whether he was at the front or the back.
"There is the Ascot Stakes, let's have a look and see first as the owners also have Cardinal Walter, who, although he is in the Swinton Hurdle at Haydock on Saturday, will probably run at York next week."
Tickets for Royal Ascot are still availablehere.
