The 10-year-old ran a cracker in trying to make most at the weekend, jumping with all his old enthusiasm and coming home in second behind his former stable companion Chantry House.
Beaten just a neck into second by Al Boum Photo in the 2020 renewal of the blue riband, he began to find winning difficult and was pulled up in last season's Gold Cup. Following that, he was transferred from Seven Barrows to Polly Gundry during last summer, by owners Richard and Lizzie Kelvin-Hughes.
Having shown up well before tiring on his return to action at Cheltenham in December, the Milan gelding gave a bold sight for a long way in Saturday's Cotswold Chase and rallied on the run-in to give eventual winner and hot favourite Chantry House a real fight.
Gundry said: "He seems to have come out of it fine and hopefully we'll go forward again.
"I was really pleased that he seemed to enjoy himself. Nick (Scholfield) got a great tune out of him and he'll tighten up again. I'm pleased with the direction we're going in.
"I think we're keen to have a crack at the Gold Cup. Richard Kelvin-Hughes is very happy to do that and I can't see another race that looks a sensible option.
"We entered him for the Stayers' Hurdle, but I think we'll probably scratch him out of that this week. He might have an entry in the Grand National, we'll see.
"We did wonder about the cross-country race at Cheltenham, if there was a lack of interest on his part, but actually I think he'd like something a little bit more straightforward."
On the prospect of saddling a runner in the Gold Cup, she added: "It's amazing, but I don't think about it much. It's all about getting the horse right and healthy - that's my job.
"There's no point thinking about it too much as all it does is do your head in!"
Santini hasn't won since the 2020 renewal of the Cotswold Chase, albeit he has had only seven starts since then. There's no doubting his popularity and a win for him on March 18 would raise the roof at Cheltenham.
