British Horseracing Authority head of handicapping Phil Smith fully expects Kauto Star to continue at the peak of his powers next season, despite stablemate Denman having grabbed his Gold Cup crown.
Last year saw the eight-year-old be crowned champion in three categories at the Anglo-Irish Jump Racing Awards, but this year he only picked up the prize for top two-and-a-half-mile chaser.
Some had started to question whether the dual King George winner had lost some of his sparkle towards the end of the season when he went under in the Gold Cup and at Aintree - but Smith believes Paul Nicholls' charge is still at the top of his game.
He said: "If you look at his rating from October 2006 he has consistently been running to marks in the 170s. He has run 12 times in two years which is stunning.
"He has been very consistent and has never thrown a shocker in.
"Even when he was beaten at Cheltenham and Aintree he was below par but they still weren't bad runs.
"He may have reached his peak on 179, but I am confident he can achieve another mark in the high 170s next season and he achieved the same rating this year as last."
Smith added that he does not believe Kauto Star's stablemate Denman's presence in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup would frighten off the opposition.
"I would be reasonably confident that for one of the major winter prizes people will want to take him on," Smith added.
"It will be his first run of the season and some may think his rating of 182 is too high."
Smith's Irish counterpart Noel O'Brien nominated Willie Mullins' Glencove Marina as a horse to keep an eye on next season after the six-year-old suffered a truncated campaign due to injury.
O'Brien said: "Novices chasers looked weak on both sides of the channel. There are more novice hurdlers staying over hurdles to the detriment of the chasing division.
"Glencove Marina would have been the exception to the dearth of novice chasers.
"He won both his starts over fences and beat Finger Onthe Pulse on the second occasion. That run looks even better with his win at Cheltenham in the Jewson.
"He was sadly injured, but we felt he is a horse who could have gone right to the top.
"We rated him 153 which was the top rating for a novice over two and a half miles and I do hope he comes back in the autumn."
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