He was second in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, winner of a Listed Intermediate Chase at Sandown and then seventh in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

“We will certainly think about giving Barbers Shop an entry in the Betfair Chase,” said Sir Michael Oswald, racing manager for The Queen’s National Hunt horses.

“He has also been entered in the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Hennessy but, realistically, he might be too highly rated to run in handicap company.

“He would be giving lumps of weight away and it could be wiser to go for more open races like the Betfair Chase.

“From what he has done so far in his career, you wouldn’t see him threatening the likes of Kauto Star.

“I was worried about running him in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last year because there have been so many horses who experience a tough race at Cheltenham and never come back.

“But he didn’t really get involved in a hard finish – he ran well and jumped the course beautifully – and Barry (Geraghty) said that he wasn’t quite strong enough yet.

“He’s only seven and I would hope that, by getting a little bit stronger, he would be that much better.

“He has got an awful lot of promise over fences and it is just a question of how much improvement has come from a summer of strengthening up.

“Everything looks good at the moment – he is moving good, working well – but it’s hard to tell how good he is unless we test the water against the very top chasers.

“I think that the best plan is to enter him for all of the top races, see how they look, and then eventually we will have to go for one.

“We will have to bite the bullet at some point and see how good he is.”