James Lawton: An imperious run towards greatness rounded off with a laugh at the last

He was supposed to be on a wild and dangerous journey but Kauto Star put the idea so far in his slipstream, and so open to ridicule, that he left just one last mystery behind when he strode away from the valley of champions in Gold Cup triumph.

It had nothing to do with his potential to prove himself the most talented, and versatile, winner of National Hunt's greatest prize since Arkle separated himself from the rest of racing in the mid-Sixties.

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Nor was it about the flaws of technique which had been identified not just as passing quirks of nature but problems so fundamental that perhaps even Pegasus might have struggled to rise above them.

No, it was none of that: the last question was whether great horses - whose numbers he surely joined when the gloriously ascendant Irish jockey Ruby Walsh guided him through dangerous traffic to an imperious wide run going into the third last - have ironic humour in their souls as well as steel and dazzling action.

It had to be the suspicion when the new champion took the last fence almost as perilously as he had at Kempton Park and Newbury when landing the King George VI and the Aon Chase - and a question mark so big it could scarcely be squeezed into his horsebox.

Kauto Star flattened out on contact with the fence - his progress to that point had been mockingly flawless - but when he hit the ground his progress remained utterly inexorable. A great choking, convulsion ran into every corner of the course, but if these were demons Kauto had provoked they were ones he certainly did not share.

Walsh - who had fallen at the equivalent obstacle in the preceding novice hurdle after quite beautiful stewardship of Black Harry before his fierce rival Tony McCoy cranked up the pressure on Wichita Lineman - drove to the line in what seemed like a delirium of professional satisfaction. It had no doubt been stoked by owner Clive Smith's eve-of-race suggestion that one of his worries was that Walsh, in his excitement over the sheer power at his disposal, might transmit "bad vibes." Bad Vibes? Beethoven or Mozart could not have composed notes more exquisitely. Walsh took the short trip round the three- miles, two-furlongs, 110-yards course right up until that moment when, in his opinion, the hazards inside became just too numerous, and then it was that all the glorious talent was unfurled.

This time it was McCoy on Exotic Dancer who was the pursuer, but afterwards he said: "My horse was a little unlucky in the last stages, but there was no question about who had the best horse. It was a great ride and a great victory and we could still going around now without any chance of catching him."

Walsh said: "It was wonderful to ride a horse like that and there is no question he is great star - everyone wants a star, and this one has shown his versatility winning over different distances. He is just one hell of a horse to be associated with."

For Walsh, though, it is a statement which might be tested this time next year when he will have an option on Denman, the spectacular 10-length winner of the Royal & SunAlliance Chase earlier this week. He avoided a straight answer to the question, saying that maybe we should wait until next March. It is a long time to contemplate a master jockey's immersion in riches - and the sense that a new and thrilling phase of steeplechasing might well be most elegantly afoot.

How good is Kauto Star? There is already a formidable mound of evidence from a season of six straight wins that the seven-year-old French-bred bay, who in his birthplace was called "Extraterrestrial" for his other-worldly quality of stunning change of pace, is at least as versatile as the late national hero Desert Orchid. Kauto can live with the fastest pace ... and he can stay. He did that with marvellous ease yesterday and his trainer, Paul Nicholls, was in no mood to discuss new adventures.

He said that Kauto Star would have a summer of rest before being pointed towards fresh peaks. "Kauto Star has done enough for the time being and I'm so proud of him. It is hard to hear so much criticism of him when you know how good he is - and all that he can do. Coming here we were very confident. We just stoked the work into him, knowing that he had all the talent in the world."

Walsh's contribution was so masterful it was somewhat surprising that when the overjoyed owner announced that he had something he wanted to impress on the media with some urgency it was not a swift and gracious retraction of those earlier doubts about the jockey's influence.

What Smith wanted to advise the racing press was not that his £240,000 investment had been in the hands of one of the greatest jockeys racing had ever seen, but that it was wrong to pronounce Kauto "Kayto". He had been told by the French that the correct way to say it was "Korto". Kayto or Korto, it mattered less than a stableful of old hay because this was a story that ultimately could have only one true emphasis.

It was that greatness had once again passed through the valley on a day of haunting beauty ... and through the hands of a jockey who may well rival but will never surpass the degree of his brilliance here yesterday.

Kauto Star had brought haunting suspense to the race. Each fence he cleared seemed like a separate respite from the most hollow of disappointment, and then at the end there was indeed confirmation that all the fuss and all the speculation had not been wasted on one of those illusions of sport which often build around over-praised talent.

Waiting for Kauto Star was indeed a proper way to spend the winter. It was an authentic investment in hope that something extraordinary was on the horizon. Next March there will be more talk of a reckless streak, a crack in the diamond, but it will be set against a rather different perspective.

The horse that entranced a good part of the nation yesterday may not gallop into the company of Arkle, and he may never conjure the affection of Desert Orchid, but no one can say now that he is not some kind of genuine contender. Or dismiss the possibility that he also has a wicked sense of humour.