With its endless queues for beer, bets and burgers and that blue-skied chill of indelible Christmases past, something of the Desert Orchid era was recreated at Kempton Park yesterday.The notion was validated gloriously as the shadows lengthened and Kauto Star was elevated to a branch of the jumping peerage previously the sole preserve of the great grey.

Only two horses had previously won the Stan James King George VI Chase three times and, of them, only Dessie - who went on to claim four - had done so in successive years. But there was scarcely a moment yesterday that gave cause to doubt Kauto Star would equal the feat, and do so with that characteristic cocktail of imperiousness and palpitation.

He soared over the second last to put the race in safe keeping, then brought a collective gasp from the packed crowd with his casual disregard for the last. It made no difference and he sauntered home by eight lengths, from Albertas Run and Voy Por Ustedes, before returning to the kind of crowd reception never normally seen at Kempton these days, along with an emotional outpouring from Paul Nicholls, the winning trainer.

Nicholls had been working himself into a lather over what he saw as systematic disparagement of his horse and he wasted no time in giving voice to his exasperation. “Horses like this are so good for racing and they should get more respect rather than being slagged all the time,” he said.

Nicholls had pointed animatedly towards the horse as the winning connections took their ovation and his feelings are deep and well-intentioned, even if they ignore the elementary fact that racing is a parish of pundits - professional and amateur - whose scouring for weaknesses in champions does not necessarily imply disrespect.

Certainly, the public paid no heed to the doomtellers and Kauto Star was forced from the relative generosity of 6-4 to start odds-on, just as he had done in the two previous years.

Curiously, though, sceptics remained within the in-running betting community and Betfair report that the winner traded at 4-1 - “to serious sums” - at various stages of a race that he never looked likely to lose.

This will only harden Nicholls's views regarding those intent on putting down a horse that has now won 13 times over fences and has never been out of the first two when he has finished.

“Denman is the only horse he's met that has been better than him on the day,” the trainer maintained. “He's been amazingly tough.”

There was a self-critical element to Nicholls' strident vindication. He said: “I'm man enough to say I made a mistake running him at Haydock last time, and that won't happen again. Things went wrong that day and it wasn't Sam's (Thomas's) finest hour.

“But you learn something every day in this job I know now that this horse has changed, and needs his runs more spaced out. He won't run again before the Gold Cup and he'll only have one run next season before coming back for a fourth King George.”

These, in long-term anticipation, are two stellar days of the type racing desperately needs to improve its profile. And from now until March, Nicholls, who manages horses and owners with equal facility, will be once more the ringmaster in a media circus.

Bookmakers were quick to shorten Kauto Star's odds for Cheltenham, Ladbrokes leading the way by halving his price to 2-1, with Denman still 5-4 favourite. What is abundantly clear is that Denman will face a much tougher test than last season if his stablemate turns up in the form of yesterday.

Ruby Walsh had passed a searching examination of his own, 40 minutes earlier, by surviving the first shaking fall he had suffered since returning from his month-long absence. He came out, though, with eyes bright and mind clearly focused on being positive.

Having sat contentedly off the pace set, in turn, by Snoopy Loopy, Tamarinbleu and Our Vic, Walsh produced a prodigious leap a mile from home that carried Kauto Star to the front. “I wanted to be up there out of trouble and we were seriously trapping off the last bend,” he related. “But I still had a ton in hand.”

With Imperial Commander fading after travelling well and Voy Por Ustedes unable to sustain his challenge, it was the Jonjo O'Neill-trained Albertas Run that provided the final threat.

“He's a different horse on good ground like this,” O'Neill said. “But he wants to meet a lesser one than that horse.”

Alan King, trainer of Voy Por Ustedes, believes his horse was “just outstayed” and will now aim him at the Ryanair Chase at the Festival. His air of satisfaction, though, was in itself an added compliment to a marvel of modern steeplechasing.

Nicholls may question what more he has to do to convert the unbelievers but there were precious few of those in the 18,000 crowd here. If the trainer brings Kauto Star back in similar shape this time next year, even Desert Orchid's place in history will be at risk.