Il Est Francais put up a sparkling jumping display to win the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on his British debut at Kempton.

Part-owned by an Englishman in Richard Kelvin-Hughes, ridden by one in James Reveley and trained jointly by another Englishman in Noel George, he was representing France in no uncertain terms.

Still only five, Il Est Francais had carried almost all before him in France and from an early stage had most of his rivals under pressure with his cruising speed and accurate jumping.

Whether meeting fences on a long or short stride, the 13-8 chance made only one semblance of an error over the three miles and Reveley, son of former trainer Keith and a multiple champion jockey in France since moving there, always knew what he had underneath him.

Paul Nicholls’ Hermes Allen briefly looked a threat but once Il Est Francais was asked to put the race to bed, he soon opened up a distance between them again and in the end won by 11 lengths.

George trains in partnership with Amanda Zetterholm, while the winner is jointly owed by Haras De Saint-Voir, who also bred the gelding.

“It is not very nice to watch as you always have your stomach in your throat. When you see him in the morning and I say he takes your breath away, he does,” said a relieved George.

“I was just nervous him coming over here and showing how good he is. I know he is the real deal. He doesn’t have to go in front, he has just got that cruising speed.

“I never work him in front at home as he does too much. He always sits in behind and quickens past them.”

On future plans, George said: “He is a horse with so many different options. The dream this season is to win the French Gold Cup (Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris), as his breeder, who owns half of him with Richard Kelvin-Hughes, did everything he did to keep him trained in France to win a French Gold Cup and that is our main aim this season.

“A French Gold Cup then a King George here next year is very much what we would be thinking, but whether we go to Cheltenham we would have to see.

“The first day we schooled him over a French fence he did it like an old handicapper. He adapts so easily. I was pretty confident, but you are never 100 per cent sure when you come across the Channel.

“Now we can dream that he is a real superstar.”

He added: “Richard Kelvin-Hughes invested a lot of money in this horse, and trusted us, and his dream is to win a Cheltenham Gold Cup and if we could do both that would be amazing. We take each step as it comes. It is his first trip across the Channel and he has shown everyone how good he is which is great.

“This is our first year training as we got our licence in January. The horse won a Grade One under dad’s (Tom George) name in November, so officially it is our first Grade One. It is huge.”

Reveley said: “We all had high hopes for this horse as we thought it would suit him around here, but he had to come and confirm it. I was just walking the course earlier and I was glad that we didn’t bring him last year as it would have been a big ask for a four-year-old.

“He is now a lot older and wiser and this was the right time to bring him over and he did it well. He pings off that good ground. Harry (Cobden on Hermes Allen) was fairly close to me early doors when I was thinking I was going quite a good gallop for three miles.

“My lad was just tanking the whole way and pinging his fences. He got one a little bit wrong down the back, but he was clever to be fair. I could have gone out there with a plan to take a lead as he would have settled in behind, but I thought today, in a small field, he is happy dominating and he has got a good cruising speed, so I thought I would make use of him as that is what he is good at.

“Harry came to me at two out and I just asked for him to lengthen. He didn’t quicken, but he lengthened nicely, and there was still a bit left in the tank. He wasn’t fully wound up for today really. Noel has just been keeping him ticking over from his last race. I think there is a lot more to come.

“That has ticked off my list to ride a Grade One winner in England. I’ve not had a winner in England since 2016. It is great to come back in front of a big crowd and get all the congratulations.

“He is potentially the best I’ve ridden, but he has to go out there and prove it. So French has won two Grand Steeple-Chase (de Paris), but for me potentially he is the best.”