The Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite See More Business was given a clean bill of health yesterday after coming through his final "lesson" with flying colours.

Paul Nicholls is keenly looking forward to the March 19th showpiece for which his stable-star is 7 to 2 market leader with the sponsors after a four-length victory in the Pillar Property Investments Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The Pertemps King George VI Chase winner had to overcome a bad mistake at the fourth-last fence but Nicholls stressed: "He's as right as rain this morning. He ate up last night and he is in good order.

"Obviously we were well pleased with yesterday as he learnt a lot more - that was the idea as it was another lesson for him.

"He has learnt to have more respect for the fences - that was only his eighth run over fences and he is still a little novicey.

"I didn't see his mistake as I was down between the last two fences. When I saw him at the third-last I thought he was beaten but he rallied really well."

Critics had suggested See More Business' victory at Kempton on St Stephen's Day owed much to the testing ground that day.

But after the gelding's triumph on going described officially as good to soft on Saturday Nicholls said: "He doesn't need soft ground - he just needs a distance of ground.

"I didn't say anything at the time but I've never read so much rubbish as I did about the ground and horses being wrong after he won at Kempton.

"His jumping is a lot better now and if the ground is like that on Gold Cup day we'll be happy.

"He'll go straight for the Gold Cup now. He's improving, he flies up that hill and I hope he's the one they've all got to beat."