Sensational King George VI Chase winner Long Run is set to head straight to the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup following his scintillating display at Kempton on Saturday.

Nicky Henderson’s talented French import will be looking to become the first six-year-old to win the Gold Cup since Mill House and while the Ryanair Chase remains a possibility for the Grade One winner, the Festival’s ‘blue riband’ appears to be the priority.

"I would think we would find it hard to resist going for the Gold Cup. He probably won't run again before then," explained Robert Waley-Cohen.

"We probably lost a race in between because of the three-week delay otherwise he might have gone for the Aon Chase. He'd been kept on the buzz a long time and Nicky was saying on Saturday night he might calm him down for a couple of weeks and go straight to Cheltenham.

"I think he'll stay. He didn't seem to be running out of stamina yesterday. You need plenty of stamina to win that race because they go pretty quick and there's no time for a breather. There's no mercy out there."

Talk of Long Run not being as good at Cheltenham doesn’t worry Waley-Cohen and despite his two defeats at the course, Waley-Cohen explained:  "He hasn't quite lived up to expectations in two runs. It was right at the end of the season in the RSA Chase when he finished third after he'd been running in serious Grade One races since the previous May.

"In the Paddy Power, he was third carrying a big weight and, in fairness, Nicky's horses weren't winning at that time."