Trainer Tim Vaughan will already have one eye on the Randox Grand National when Eva's Oskar lines up for the Vertem Eider Handicap Chase at Newcastle on Saturday.
It was a career-best victory in the Dahlbury Chase at Cheltenham in December that shaped the major staying targets throughout the spring.
Preparatory outings were pencilled in at both Sandown's Virgin Bet Masters Handicap Chase and Saturday's Eider, once it had been decided to rule out the Welsh Grand National in favour of a bid for the Aintree showpiece itself.
The Sandown run resulted in a fourth-placed performance that Vaughan hopes will leave Eva's Oskar perfectly poised for an Eider bid that will itself lead to the National.
Vaughan said: "He seems in great form, I'm hoping the ground is genuine good to soft, which I think he'd love. The extra trip should should bring plenty of improvement and we're excited to get going and have a go.
"We won at Cheltenham and then we had to decide whether we were going to go for the Welsh National or what other route we might want to take with him.
"I had in my mind to go to the Grand National and I wanted to work backwards from that, so we swerved the Welsh National and went to Sandown.
"He probably needed that run, just to put the finishing touches on him with the aim of having him cherry-ripe for the Eider. It's a well-trodden path, the Eider to the Grand National, so it made sense.
"I put in entries for the Midlands National and for Cheltenham, just in case we thought he wouldn't get in then we had to change our plan, but we're pretty adamant the Grand National is our route after this."
Of the slowly-run Sandown contest, the trainer added: "He's a horse who doesn't really want to be in front, he likes being up on the pace but he doesn't want to be in front and pushing the pace. They just didn't go fast enough really, he stayed on well, he did nothing wrong.
"Alan (Johns, jockey) was happy as Larry with him, the race just didn't pan out as you'd hope to give him the best chance of running his race, so I'm hoping that will be different come Saturday."
Christian Williams won the Eider last season with Win My Wings and this time runs Kitty's Light, second behind the latter horse in the Scottish Grand National last season and second behind stablemate Cap Du Nord in the Coral Trophy at Kempton.
Cap Du Nord heads south to defend that title and Kitty's Light will return to a four-mile trip under Jack Tudor at Newcastle after the presence the highly-rated of Frodon pushed him out of the weights at Kempton.
"He's very well, he's being stepped back in trip to four miles and he seems to be an out-and-out stayer," Williams said.
"There are only certain four-mile races on nice ground for a horse of his rating, so the Eider Chase was the obvious choice for him.
"He's been running over three miles and I think a step up in trip will suit him, it's great prize-money and it'd be great to win it again.
"You can't question his stamina, he ran well over three miles at Kempton in the Coral Trophy last year and that's great prize-money, but Frodon is stopping him from going there so we'll go for the Eider instead."
Ben Clarke's proven stayer The Galloping Bear lines up under jockey Ben Jones, having falled in the Welsh National when last seen.
Happily the bay was unscathed after the incident and has been pleasing when schooling in preparation for the race.
Clarke said: "He's been none the worse from his tumble at Chepstow. He's done of plenty of schooling since, we've had him checked over and he seems to be absolutely fine.
"Everything's gone really smoothly for him, we think the track will suit him and we're excited about running him. He schooled this week very nicely and worked well, so we're hopeful of a good run.
"The trip is definitely no issue for us, there are a few in it that are open to improvement up in trip, but there's no guarantee they are confirmed stayers. That's got to be a positive, he's on a mark that we know is workable for him and he's pretty straightforward – we're all happy this end and hoping he can run well."
The Galloping Bear has relished heavy ground in the past, but Clarke does not expect good to soft will hinder him over an extended trip and under a weight of 11st 12lb.
"He hasn't run on good to soft ground for a little while, if it was over three miles on that ground I might be a bit concerned that everything could happen a bit quick for him, but over four miles, I can't see it being an issue.
"He's got a lot of weight to carry and he's done that in the past, he carried the same weight to victory in the Surrey National, but because he's not the biggest horse, it might actually help if it's not quite such a bog. I don't foresee good to soft ground being such an issue over the trip."
