It mwould be insulting to a great horse to suggest that this Friday at Kempton Park represents Kauto Star’s Waterloo. If he wins his third King George VI Chase, he will emulate Desert Orchid and Wayward Lad, worthy company for any chaser. Of course the great Dessie went on to win a fourth.

However, with three defeats in his past four outings, most recently at Haydock Park, Kauto Star is returning to the scene of his most impressive triumph with a point to prove.

The doubters think his best days are behind him. He was trounced by Denman in the Gold Cup, beaten at Aintree and only returned to anything like his old imperious self on his seasonal debut at Down Royal. Deep down, Paul Nicholls, the ebullient champion trainer and the gelding’s stoutest defender, must be beginning to wonder.

More worrying than the slip that caused Sam Thomas’s unseating at Haydock was the fact that Kauto Star was being pushed hard to win a race that, by rights, he should have strolled. Nicholls firmly believes that Kauto would have won at Haydock, and that if he had, there would not be all the fuss and nonsense about him now.

More encouragingly, the news from Ditcheat is that Kauto is flying up the newly surfaced gallops and is ready to defend his title on Boxing Day.

“In hindsight, Haydock might have come a bit quick for him after Down Royal,” Nicholls explained. “We might have ridden him a bit differently too. He got beat, but to say he blundered away his chance wasn’t right. He slipped. He’s schooled since, so he got over that quick. If he’d fallen and gone upside down, it might been a bit different.”

Nicholls regards Kempton as home ground for his former Gold Cup winner. Tony McCoy knew from four fences out that he was beaten on Exotic Dancer, so casually did Kauto Star destroy the field a year ago. Kauto may tolerate Cheltenham, but he seems to relish the flatlands of Kempton Park, where speed rather than outright stamina is the key. Edredon Bleu, a confirmed two-miler, won a King George over three, and Kauto Star retains at least some of the pace that won two Tingle Creek Chases.

“The great thing about Kempton is that they go a great gallop, so you’ve got to have plenty of speed and you’ve got to stay,” says Nicholls. “It plays into his hands. Everything about the race suits him, so he’s got every chance. If he wins it, he wins it; if not, he’s still been an amazing horse. If he is on the decline - and I don’t think he is - so what? He’s been awesome.”

No less than Kauto Star, Nicholls is being judged by different standards these days, with every success or failure magnified. Sir Alex Ferguson, one of his owners, could have told him about the lonely lot of the champion.

However, Ruby Walsh is back in harness, stabilising the confidence of the whole yard at Ditcheat after the well-publicised mishaps of Thomas, his deputy for the past month.

“Ruby makes mistakes but he doesn’t get the same stick that Sam got,” says Nicholls. “He’s got that much more experience. He’s been through the ups and downs. Sam’s doing that now and he’ll come back stronger. But it’s good to have Ruby back.”

It would be equally good to have the old Kauto Star back too.