Libberty Hunter in Clarence House contention against the big two

Evan Williams feels Saturday’s mouthwatering BetMGM Clarence House Chase at Ascot might offer the right sort of opportunity for Libberty Hunter to step up in class.

After winning on his seasonal reappearance at Cheltenham the nine-year-old is now rated 151.

That still leaves him some way shy of Jonbon and Energumene, but it would also see him carrying top-weight in most handicaps and Williams feels now might just be the time to step him up in class.

While there is no rain forecast through the week, there is still a thaw imminent and Williams hopes that will ensure there is enough cut in the ground to enable Libberty Hunter to run, given his preference for ease underfoot.

“The sort of rating he’s got now sort of makes you think a bit, where is the right place to go,” said Williams.

“It’s a very interesting situation with him and I couldn’t honestly say either way what is the best thing to do.

“You’d obviously love him to keep winning, but we all know none of them can keep winning all the time.

“There’s only six in there and to be honest there’s nothing in there that we didn’t expect to be there so I suppose we’d have to think about it, definitely.”

Libberty Hunter looked in a different league to his opponents on his comeback, and Williams says this race has been in the back of his mind ever since.

“He’s been grand since his last race, absolutely fine and we’ve had no issues whatsoever,” he said.

“We were always going to have a look at this race after Cheltenham and then take it from there.

“I think he’s a horse that handles soft ground beautifully, but we’re in the middle of the winter, it’s not as if it’s spring or autumn is it. We’ve had frost and a lot of rain and snow.

“I think he does need cut in the ground really, he’s a winter horse.”