French superstar Il Est Francais is thrilling connections as he steps up his workload ahead of his next outing.

Trained by Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, the six-year-old is becoming a household name in his native France where he has built up a formidable reputation. But it was at Kempton Park on Boxing Day when producing an imperious display in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase where he cemented his position as one of the leading chasers around.

His training team resisted the temptation to take in one of the graded novice events at the Cheltenham Festival en route to their main target of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, and Il Est Francais – who is a 6-1 chance with Paddy Power for next year’s Gold Cup – will tune up for his outing in the Auteuil showpiece on May 19 by running in the Prix Muray in early April.

With that event a little under a month away, George and Zetterholm have begun tightening the screws on the eight-time winner in eager anticipation of his spring campaign on home soil.

“He’s absolutely flying and actually schooled Wednesday morning for the first time since his little break which went really nicely,” said George.

“We started riding him back out from the beginning of February, but we’ve really started stepping up his work again now and he will be spot on for April 6.

“He’s very much on target for that race which is a Grade Two and then it will be the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris on May 19. He’s a horse who likes to run fresh so it gives him a month and a bit to get over it and he should be in great form.”

Il Est Francais is unlikely to attempt repeating his ultra-impressive Kempton heroics at the Cheltenham Festival, with the cold weather in France leading connections to firmly lean towards Plan A with their star chaser and target the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.

Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm’s six-year-old lit up Kempton on Boxing Day with a dazzling display in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase and the appetite to see him take on the undulations of Prestbury Park was wetted when he was handed an entry for the Turners Novices’ Chase.

However, the French Gold Cup at an Auteuil track he has mastered many times has always been at the forefront of George and Zetterholm’s minds for this spring.

And a recent cold spell that has hit their Chantilly base has reaffirmed plans to remain on home soil this season before dreaming of further raiding missions next term.

“He’s absolutely great and after Kempton has had a couple of weeks just on the walker and in the paddock. He’s put on 20kg and is looking great,” said George.

“We had a big frost the last week, so he missed another week and I don’t think we will be coming to Cheltenham, but he’s in great form.

“It was an entry in case the Turners cut up and the timing looked right, but he missed a week with the snow and he will go for the French Gold Cup now.

“He will run in a prep race on April 6, a Grade Two – and then in May, the main Grade One.”

Former trainer Keith Reveley has spoken of his immense pride after seeing son James belatedly break his Grade One duck in Britain aboard the hugely impressive Il Est Francais at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

The Reveley name is, of course, steeped in northern jumps racing history, with Keith’s late mother Mary a pioneering female trainer who saddled more than 2,000 winners during an illustrious career.

Son Keith later took over the reins at the family’s Saltburn base before calling it a day himself in 2017, while James Reveley has gone on to establish himself as a leading jockey in France.

It is eight years since the proud Yorkshireman took the Gallic plunge and it could hardly have worked out better, as he has been crowned French champion jumps jockey on three occasions and won a whole host of major prizes, including a hat-trick in the prestigious Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.

His father is delighted with his son’s achievements across the Channel, but admits it was extra special to see the Reveley name back in the big-race winner’s enclosure on home soil after Il Est Francais, jointly trained by another French-based Englishman in Noel George, produced a scintillating display in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase.

“It was a great day and what made it even better was we managed to go, as we were en route to France to see the grandchildren and called in at Kempton on the way, so it was absolutely brilliant,” he said.

“The style with which the horse did it took me back to the old days, as James always rode well from the front. I remember him riding a horse called Night In Milan for me, who used to make the running and jump for fun around Doncaster.

“Funnily enough, we walked the track together an hour before the race at Kempton and for once everything worked out as we’d hoped. I said to him ‘Harry Cobden always likes to go a bit wide, so you should be able to get a nice run down the inside and it’s all about rhythm and jumping’.

“I said ‘make sure you give him a breather round this last corner, don’t press him the whole way’, and I honestly couldn’t believe how well everything was working out just as we’d spoken about, as it not very often does.”

Keith Reveley himself landed the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase – then the Feltham – with the Mick Fitzgerald-ridden Ungaro in 2006, while James partnered the stable’s Tazbar to finish second to the brilliant Long Run three years later.

In Il Est Francais, though, Keith feels his son has come across the horse of a lifetime.

He added: “The Feltham was the only Grade One I actually won as a trainer, so it was a magical day to see James win it and we just pray the horse stays in one piece. Hopefully he won’t need to start training just yet, as long as that horse is still around!

“He’s an exceptional horse. I’ve actually been to Noel’s to see him work in a morning and he’s the most gorgeous horse to look at.”

Connections have already nominated the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris as Il Est Francais’ first major target for this year, with a return to Kempton for the King George also high on his agenda.

Should he come through both of those assignments unscathed, then a tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup may loom large in 2025, although Reveley senior does have some reservations about the suitability of that particular test.

“I must admit I think the Kempton track suits him, as the horse has got loads of natural pace, and whether he wants three and a quarter miles around Cheltenham is another thing,” he went on.

“I know he’s won around Auteuil on soft ground, but they go much slower early on in the races there and whether he’ll suit the slog of Cheltenham, we’ll have to wait and see.

“James is adamant he will suit the Grand Steep – because the pace is quite relaxed early on over there, he’s confident that the trip won’t be a problem for him, but off a flat-out pace over three and a quarter miles at Cheltenham, it’s a different ball game altogether.”

While Reveley certainly does not begrudge his son’s success, he admits he had initially harboured hopes he would continue to ride in Britain at least part-time to aid his own career before the lure of French riches proved too much for him to resist.

“He used to stay with me for the winter and then go back to France every April time and stay there for the summer,” he recalled.

“I always thought it was working well, as he’d usually get maybe 50 winners in England during the winter and I thought he had a good career, but the French people kept saying if he went full-time he’d be champion and, as it turned out, the first year he went there full-time, he was champion, so it worked out.

“I wouldn’t say it was devastating for me because I’m proud he’s done so well, but it more or less put paid to my training career because it’s a hard enough job as it is without your son moving away.

“To be fair, I think the French racing suits him because he’s always been a good horseman over a jump and obviously in France, you’ve got the bullfinch fences and different types of obstacles.

“In English races, they go very fast early on and it’s a little bit of a war of attrition, whereas the French tend to be a little more tactical and rely on the jumping a little bit more. It’s worked out very well, he’s had a great time and hopefully he has a few more years at it yet.

“It was nice to see him do it on English television at Kempton. I’ve had a lot of people commenting how good it was to see him winning over here and how it’s nice to see he’s still got his northern accent!”

Noel George has reaffirmed the intention to skip this season’s Cheltenham Festival with the very exciting Il Est Francais.

George trains in partnership with Amanda Zetterholm in France and their stable star waltzed away with the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Highly regarded types like Hermes Allen and Giovinco were left trailing in his wake as he made every yard of the running under James Reveley, but connections are to stick to their plan of aiming at the French Gold Cup, the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, this spring rather than Cheltenham.

“He doesn’t have to front run, he’s very easy, he can sit in behind and pass horses but that’s just the speed he’s comfortable at going and the others aren’t comfortable. He’s just a dream horse and I think the sky is the limit with him,” George told Sky Sports Racing.

“He’s potentially the best chaser in the whole of France. He hasn’t stepped up in grade yet but we knew that he was very good.

“We thought about coming to Kempton a year ago and the horse had never even run over fences, but I think it was the right decision to wait and he’s shown everyone how good he is.

“It’s great for everyone involved to show that the top level in France is able to compete with the best level in England.

“The horse came back into training in July, ran in September and was near enough 100 per cent for the whole autumn. If we kept him in training to aim at Cheltenham and then get him back at 100 per cent for the French Gold Cup in May, that’s nearly a whole year having him in full training which I don’t think is the right thing to do.”

He went on: “We still need to discuss it but for me, I’d like to give him a break to make sure he is 100 per cent for a French Gold Cup.

“We’ve got loads of time with this horse, he’s only just turning six and for me, his next real target in England is the King George so there’s no rush, the sky is the limit.

“(Co-owners) Richard Kelvin-Hughes’ dream is to win a Cheltenham Gold Cup and Nicolas Lageneste’s dream is to win a French Gold Cup – if we can achieve both everyone would be very happy.”

Il Est Francais will bid for a milestone success for Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm in the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

The five-year-old is trained in France by the young team and has been a true success story since joining the stable, running seven times at Auteuil and winning on all but one occasion.

Those victories include two Grade Threes and a Grade One, and most recently the gelding stepped up in trip to ease any doubts over his stamina when landing the Listed Prix Fondeur in heavy ground.

He now crosses the Channel to test his mettle against British-trained horses at Kempton, and George is hopeful he can make a mark.

“He’s got a very big reputation out here in France and we’re all just hoping he can show us a true running of his real ability,” the trainer said.

“It’s the first time he has travelled away from Auteuil obviously, but he is a horse who seems to adapt easily, so hopefully it won’t be a problem and he can show us how good he is.

“France Galop have been great and have accommodated us building British fences and they opened the grass gallop especially for us so he could do a grass gallop. He’s in great form and his prep has been perfect really and we can’t wait for it.

“It’s a bit of a dream and you grow up watching King George day at Kempton. I know it’s not the King George but it’s a Grade One on the same day and it would be a dream for myself and Amanda to win our first Grade One and if that was in England, then it would be amazing.”

Il Est Francais will face Paul Nicholls’ Hermes Allen in the contest, a Grade One-winning hurdler who made a perfect start to his chasing career when landing the John Francome Novices’ Chase by six and a half lengths on debut at Newbury at the start of the month.

He beat decent horses during that run and although this is a step up in class and distance, he does have three-mile point-to-point form on his side to answer the latter question.

“Hermes Allen hasn’t gone three miles yet under rules, but he has won his point-to-point over that distance and I’ve no issue with the trip at all,” Nicholls said.

“It will be exciting and he wants to be running in Grade Ones, as it was this time last year that he won the Challow Hurdle. He won well the other day having needed the run.

“I was delighted with him at Newbury and he couldn’t have done it any better. He jumped well and galloped well all the way to the line and he will improve for that run.”

Lucinda Russell will saddle Giovinco for the race, a six-year-old who made an impression on his last run when defeating the well-regarded Stay Away Fay in the Esher Novices’ Chase at Sandown.

The gelding is a previous Listed winner over hurdles and has point-to-point form, but connections are mindful of the depth of the race this year.

Peter Scudamore, Russell’s partner and assistant, said: “It looks a very tough race but he’s highly rated and there’s not many places we can go.

“It looks a particularly good renewal of the race so we go in hope rather than expectation, but obviously we hope he runs a really nice race.

“He ran a good race at Sandown and he has a chance of improving a bit from there, so we go in hope.”

David Killahena and Graeme McPherson will saddle the grey Marble Sands for the race, with Emma Lavelle set to run Tightenourbelts and Anthony Honeyball represented by Kilbeg King.