When your body has been drilled damagingly into the same patch of Cheltenham racecourse on the corresponding Saturday of two consecutive seasons, it is natural for the mind to seek solace. For Ruby Walsh, it came with anticipation of Christmas - not in the conventional, festive sense that appeals to ordinary folk, but in longing thoughts of an unlovely racecourse alongside the M3.

Jump jockeys cling to sanity only through obstinate refusal to acknowledge pain or risk and Walsh's response to two serious injuries reflected the spirit of the genre. No self pity, no malingering, just unwavering belief that he would be back to ride Kauto Star at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

“Both times, I was going to be back for Christmas at all costs,” he said. “I wasn't going to be sitting at home watching this race - especially now, with Kauto trying to win it a third time. I never thought I'd ride a horse that won two King Georges. To be going to Kempton with a chance of three is wonderful.”

This time around, despite the removal of his spleen and the associated worries of internal injuries, Walsh has returned feeling far better than he did after the shoulder surgery of a year ago. “I was stiff last year. When you injure a limb, you're getting fit and getting going again with three limbs. It's the one that's injured you can't fully work on.

“I probably wasn't 100 per cent when I rode in the race last year but I'd do the same thing again, no doubt. This time, I started to feel well very quickly once I was out of hospital and I was soon champing at the bit. I knew I'd be back in four weeks and there have been no side-effects. The only discomfort at first was that they were all getting beat.”

In the absence of his regular rider, Kauto Star's career suffered one of its periodic dips with a last-fence exit in the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park. “I was watching on the couch at home and I felt real disappointment. Because I'm so fond of him, I always expect him to be out of this world, even if I know that's not possible.

“My first reaction after a fall is to be sure the human gets up. But once I saw Sam [Thomas] was all right, I worried about Kauto, because he'd done the splits and could easily have hurt himself. But, you know, I never thought he was beat when it happened. He wasn't going to be impressive but I think he'd have won.”

Walsh has been part of such runs before. “I'd say he has won six grade ones with wonderful performances but he's also scraped home a few times - even when he won the Gold Cup, he wasn't as good as he can be. He can win being exuberant or he can win in a dogfight and I'd have enormous respect for him winning even when he hasn't been 100 per cent.

“Things didn't happen for him in the Gold Cup last March - the ground was patchy and he didn't jump as he can, though in fairness Denman put him to the sword all the way. At Aintree afterwards, I made a mess of it. I should have followed Our Vic rather than giving him a lead. But you live and learn.”

It is a measure of the relationship between Walsh and Paul Nicholls, the trainer, that both took the blame for that Aintree defeat. Occasionally, in the after-race tension, they might snap at each other but their closeness can be judged by the volume of text messages, quite apart from the mutual admiration.

Walsh was at Ditcheat last week for the schooling session that has preceded each of Kauto's three King Georges. “He hasn't changed at all. Silly little things still frighten him, yet you could set a bomb off and he'd be all right. That's the way he's always been.

“He's more relaxed on the track and his second win was much easier than the first. Everyone remembers how he missed the last fence that day but the mistake he made at the fourth-last was just as bad. Last year, everything went to plan and by the time we jumped the second down the back, there was only going to be one winner. I was running away.”

As ever with Kauto Star, pundits are disparaging him, trying to find reasons why he will fail. Walsh is amused rather than offended. “People always want to knock the top. Even Istabraq got slagged and he was the greatest hurdler I ever saw. They'll knock Manchester United, or Australia's top teams. It's part of life but it doesn't worry me. I know how good Kauto Star is and I have total faith in him.”