Paul Nolan says he is pleased with Joncol‘s form and preparation, but is yet to decide whether his charge will run in the Lexus Chase next week (Joncol 4/1 antepost betting).

The eight-year-old finished third in the last two renewals of the Leopardstown showpiece on Wednesday, but there have been question marks over whether this year’s race will come too soon.

Joncol’s last run came earlier this month, when chasing home Rubi Light in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase, which was only his second run of the season.

With just over a fortnight to recover from that fine effort, Nolan is unsure whether the gelding can reproduce that level of performance in the Grade One contest.

Speaking to At The Races, Nolan revealed: “You don’t know until you go and run if you’re running too soon or not and it’s only 17 days. He had a very hard race in the John Durkan. For the ground it was, I think it was a very fast pace and a fast time.”

Meanwhile, Nolan believes Rubi Light (9/1 Ryanair Chase 2012) won’t struggle for stamina, despite some pundits’ concerns over the step up to three miles.

Robbie Hennessy’s charge has won two of his last four races and the six-year-old has been placed in each of  his last five races.