26 December 2023 , 14:08
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Exciting French jumper Il Est Francais was hailed “another Kauto Star” after making a stunning British debut at Kempton on Boxing Day.
The five-year-old, trained in Chantilly by Brit Noel George and Swedish partner Amy Zetterholm, has won seven out of eight in France. He crossed the Channel for his toughest test yet in the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase, named after the legendary jumper who won the King George VI Chase a record five times.
Kauto Star’s trainer Paul Nicholls saddled the favourite Hermes Allen, who is already a Grade 1 winner. Yet under Yorkshireman James Reveley, France’s three-time champion jump jockey, Il Est Francais never saw another rival as he produced a brilliant round of jumping to defeat Hermes Allen by 11 lengths.
Nicholls said: “The winner looks like another Kauto Star.” And Kauto Star’s jockey Ruby Walsh, analysing the race for ITV, said: “Il est magnifique. I thought the same as Paul Nicholls. He has King George written all over him. This is a very special five-year-old.”
Reveley, now permanently based in France, had never ridden a Grade 1 winner in the country of his birth before and Il Est Francais was his first winner in Britain since 2016.
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“It went like clockwork,” he said. “He is an extraordinary horse. We were always in second gear.
“This has been a long time coming. He’s a machine to sit on.”
Il Est Francais received quotes for the Cheltenham Festival but he is more likely to stay in France next year, according to George.
“It’s not very nice to ever watch him because you’ve got your stomach in your throat,” said the trainer. "When I say he takes your breath away every day, he does.
“I was nervous coming over here and him showing how good he is because I know that he is the real deal.
“The dream this year is to win the French Gold Cup, that’s probably our main aim. The French Gold Cup and then a King George here next year would be what we’d be thinking.”