Chris Gordon is looking forward to getting Annual Invictus back on the racecourse at the weekend.

The Winchester handler is likely to run the six-year-old in either the Paddy Power Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday or the Follow @attheraces On Twitter Novices’ Chase at Plumpton on Sunday.

Gordon was baffled by an uncharacteristically poor display at Aintree on his latest start after winning his two previous outings, coincidentally at Cheltenham and Plumpton.

“I’ve got him in at Plumpton, I’ve got him in at Cheltenham and at Musselburgh (on Monday). I’m just looking to get him back on the track,” he said.

“It’s a difficult one. I’m not mad about going to Cheltenham, but he jumped beautifully when he won there in a course record time. If you handle the track it is obviously a big plus. We might have to have a look at that race. Plumpton is a very hot race as well. It will be Plumpton or Cheltenham for sure.

“He was disappointing last time but the writing was on the wall very early in the race. After jumping two or three fences, I remember thinking I wish he would pull up now. For whatever reason – I couldn’t put a finger on it – whether the horse and jockey didn’t get on, or if it was the fierce wind and the bad ground.

“I don’t know quite what to put it down to. He’s a very consistent horse and hopefully we can get back on the track and make some sense again.”