King George the main target for Il Est Francais next season - but he could run at Cheltenham first

Brilliant French chaser Il Est Francais is set to skip his Cheltenham Festival date in the Turners Novices’ Chase – but could still be seen at Prestbury Park before the end of 2024.

The exciting six-year-old’s joint-trainers Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm were speaking to the Racing Post for a major feature in Sunday’s newspaper in which they discuss the nerves of bringing Il Est Francais to Britain for the first time over Christmas, the inner workings of their training partnership and their ambitions for the horse who stormed to a spectacular win in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton.

That left British audiences desperate to see more of Il Est Francais, but although he has an entry in the Turners Novices’ Chase next month, he will instead run next in the Prix Murat on April 6, a prep run for his next major target, the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris on May 19.

However, having pursued his breeder and co-owner Nicolas Lageneste’s dream of winning the race known as the French Gold Cup, Il Est Francais will then return to Britain next season at the behest of his British-based co-owners Richard and Lizzie Kelvin-Hughes, who bought into him after his successful hurdles debut in 2022.

“We’ll keep him in France for now and he’ll be back in Britain next autumn,” said George, the 24-year-old son of Grade 1-winning trainer Tom.

"The main target will be the King George. He obviously liked the track. And then we've very much discussed with Richard Kelvin-Hughes that we’d quite like him to run at Cheltenham before the Gold Cup. Whether he runs at Cheltenham before the King George or after, we’ll have to work it out. But the main aim will be the King George and we’ll go from there."

A run at Cheltenham beforehand could bring the Paddy Power Gold Cup at the track’s November meeting into the equation. While he would be highly likely to carry top weight, George’s faith in him is such that anything seems possible.

"It’s what you dream of," he added. "I’ve been lucky to work with Grade 1 winners in Dad’s but this lad really seems to have a class apart. Hopefully we can continue to do a good job with him."

Read more from Noel George, Amanda Zetterholm and James Reveley in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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