'The winner looks like another Kauto Star' - French raider Il Est Francais produces scintillating performance at Kempton

Where do you start after a performance like that? Perhaps with the unrelenting gallop Il Est Francais sustained throughout? Maybe the way he repeatedly let rip at his fences? Or how about the way he sent Grade 1 winner Hermes Allen packing down the home straight? Take your pick, because this was a performance that had absolutely everything.

In fact so good was French sensation Il Est Francais, Hermes Allen's trainer Paul Nicholls went as far as hailing him the next Kauto Star; high praise indeed.

Trained by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm in Chantilly, Il Est Francais had been beaten just once in eight starts over hurdles or fences in France, with connections repeatedly mentioning him as some sort of extraterrestrial. On his first taste of racing in Britain, this was judgement day and Il Est Francais proved the hype was not only justified but had in fact failed to do him justice.

James Reveley, a three-time champion jockey in France whose last winner in Britain had come seven years ago, set the tone from the off as he fired Il Est Francais into the first two fences and from there the five-year-old put on a magical show.

There was one scare when he fluffed the fifth-last, but when he chose to stand off at his fences he was somehow landing as far away from them on the other side and there was more than just a dash of both king Kauto and Desert Orchid about his performance.

"When I say he takes your breath away everyday, he really does," said George, son of Gloucestershire trainer Tom George. "I was just nervous about him coming over here and showing people how good he is because he's the real deal.

"I was pretty confident, but you're never 100 per cent confident when you come across the Channel. Now we can dream. He's a real superstar."

If ever there was a day to stay in the moment and savour such a performance then this was it, but inevitably George was asked if Cheltenham would figure in plans come March.

"He's a horse with so many options," the joint-trainer added. "The dream this season is to win the French Gold Cup [Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris in May]. Nicolas de Lageneste, his breeder who owns half of him with Richard Kelvin-Hughes, did everything he could to keep him in training to win a French Gold Cup, so that's our main aim next year.

"A French Gold Cup and then a King George here next year would be what we're thinking, but whether we go to Cheltenham [in March] we'll have to see."

While it might not be this March, Cheltenham will likely figure among the long-term targets, with the 2025 Cheltenham Gold Cup much more than a pipedream.

"Nicolas de Lageneste wants to win a French Gold Cup and Richard Kelvin-Hughes's dream is to win a Cheltenham Gold Cup," said George. "If we could win both it would be amazing."

Il Est Francais (James Reveley) puts in a spectacular jump during the Kauto Star Novices' ChaseCredit: Edward Whitaker

George said there was a moment early on when he questioned if Il Est Francais was going too fast, but Reveley was always confident he would keep going.

"He was tanking with me the whole way and pinging his fences," said the winning rider. "He got one a little bit wrong down the back, but he was clever to be fair. He's happy dominating and I made use of what he's good at.

"Harry Cobden came to me two out and I just asked him to lengthen and he still had a bit in the tank. He wasn't fully wound up for today and I think there's a lot more to come. We went a strong pace and he did well to keep it up the whole way."

Reveley felt it would be wise to concentrate on the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris rather than the Cheltenham Festival in 2024 and was confident this was the horse to give him a fourth win in France's biggest jumps race.

He added: "He's potentially the best I've ridden, but he has to stay in one piece and show everybody how good he is in the years to come."

Magnanimous in defeat with Hermes Allen, Nicholls said: "That’s another Kauto Star was my first reaction to it. Hermes was always out of his comfort zone and it’s hard to know what would’ve been when you’re taking on a horse like that. Maybe a track like Cheltenham that’s a bit stiffer will suit him better, but he was beaten by a better horse today."

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