Nicky Henderson has insisted that Long Run has returned to the elite group of horses following the gelding's victory in the King George VI Chase.
Sam Waley-Cohen guided Long Run to the win at Kempton on Boxing Day and trainer Henderson now believes that the horse can regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.
"Long Run is back where he belongs at the top of the tree," the two-time champion trainer told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"He loves Cheltenham and I'd like to think he can improve on that again.
"Yesterday's performance doesn't necessarily make him the world beater but he's still got it and he's still young enough to get back to where he was, which was the very, very top."
Long Run's victory on Wednesday was his second in the race following his win in 2010.
