Tom George is formulating a route to Kempton on Boxing Day, after it was confirmed he will oversee the training of Il Est Francais during the upcoming jumps season.

The seven-year-old was a Grade One winner in George’s name in 2022 when winning the Prix Renaud du Vivier but his subsequent exploits have come under the stewardship of son Noel George and his training partner Amanda Zetterholm from their base in France.

However, now seen by connections as being at a “crossroads” in his career, Il Est Francais will call Slad his home rather than Chantilly, as Tom George recommences training duties with the dual Grade One winner – who will also now be owned solely by Richard and Lizzie Kelvin-Hughes.

George said: “So many of the good young French horses are being made in France then being sold to English owners, but then you get to a crossroads when some of them that stay over there longer like Il Est Francais and the programme is probably better laid out for him in England.

“That is the reason that he is going to spend the campaign here rather than France and everyone is on the same hymn sheet and wants the best for the horse.

“Richard and Lizzie have been big supporters of Noel since the day he started training and he actually won his first Grade One in my name but I can’t say I did a great deal towards it.

“It’s all been done amicably and everyone is wishing each other the best of luck. He is running under Richard and Lizzie’s banner in England and Nicolas De Lageneste [former joint-owner] would always have the odd runner in England but he’s more geared towards racing in France than England.

“Richard and Lizzie have had the horse with them over the summer and they’ve got to know him well and I’ve got to know him well and he has been here a few times before anyway when he’s run in England so we all know plenty about him.”

Il Est Francais has lit up Kempton during their showpiece Christmas meeting in recent years, dazzling when emphatically winning the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase in 2023 before returning 12 months later to be agonisingly reeled in late when making a bold bid for King George VI Chase glory.

Another crack at the December 26 feature is the primary objective for the beginning of Il Est Francais’ tenure at George’s Glocestershire yard, but having been delighted with how the star chaser has settled into his new surroundings, the handler will soon plot a route to the King George, incorporating a prep run in England.

George added: “We haven’t made any concrete plans yet but the most important thing is he’s settled in, he’s in full work and loving life and we’re gearing everything about what’s right for him. We couldn’t be happier with him at the moment.

“The King George is the first major target. Obviously he will be having a run before the King George but the most important thing is to keep doing what’s right for the horse and then it’ll all slowly develop.”

The move marks the first notable switch of a horse in Tom George’s direction by the family operation, which has put full focus on France in recent years, as Noel George and Zetterholm’s stable in the Chantilly outskirts has developed into a real force on the continent.

Further explaining the switch George said: “I think the most important thing to say is that when we set up the operation in France it was very much a family operation and it was always going to be geared about what is best for each horse at a specific time.

“I pushed everything I could in the direction of France and it’s gone unbelievably well and better than all expectations. But it was always in the back of our minds there might be the odd one that gets to a crossroads in their career and comes here.

“When we put the whole thing together with Noel and Amanda, everything was geared towards getting things going there and I was happy to sit back. I haven’t completely disappeared and I still have plenty of horses here, but there has been a focus on France rather than here.

“Noel and Amanda have hopefully got some nice horses to run in England as well, so they don’t have to come back to me, we’re just doing what’s right for each horse and now we’ve got more of these high-quality horses, things will start developing more.

“The business was evolved around being able to source the best horses between ourselves and then do what’s best and the horse who won the French Champion Hurdle [El Clavel] we bought as a yearling but if he had stayed in England he wouldn’t have won a French Champion Hurdle.”