Long Run's homecoming was a quiet reception rather than a parade through the streets of Lambourn - but the magnitude of his achievements in Friday's Cheltenham Gold Cup were not downplayed by those involved.A small gathering of Nicky Henderson's staff and family attempted to make sense of a night spent in a nearby pub while the horse himself stood obediently for photographers until he became bored with the attention.He may have lost weight during his track record-breaking defeat of Denman and Ka

Long Run's homecoming was a quiet reception rather than a parade through the streets of Lambourn - but the magnitude of his achievements in Friday's Cheltenham Gold Cup were not downplayed by those involved.

A small gathering of Nicky Henderson's staff and family attempted to make sense of a night spent in a nearby pub while the horse himself stood obediently for photographers until he became bored with the attention.

He may have lost weight during his track record-breaking defeat of Denman and Kauto Star and collected a little mark on his head in the box on the journey home, but a crystal-clear morning in Berkshire served only to enhance the best features of his elegant physique.

The only six-year-old to win the illustrious prize since 1963, Long Run will have an easy week as his team consider whether to run him again this season.

"He looks fantastic," Henderson said.

"He has lost 15 kilos, but if you're going to gallop around Cheltenham faster than anyone else has, it's not surprising.

"He's going to have the day off and eat some grass, and he'll do the same tomorrow."

Henderson will soon discuss future plans with Long Run's owner Robert Waley-Cohen.

Waley-Cohen and his son Sam, the first amateur rider to claim the Gold Cup since the start of the 1980s, are keen to take Long Run back to race in his native France at some point whether it is this year or later on.

Waley-Cohen said France was an option as long as his son could ride.

"I want to go to Auteuil, but it's a plan, rather than the plan," he said.

"Amateurs are not allowed to ride in 'tierce' races (a designated betting event in France) and if that happened to be the one we wanted to run in then we wouldn't go.

"There is the Prix Murat on April 17, which is a trial for the Grand-Steeple Chase de Paris on May 29.

"He could go for something like the Betfair Chase before the King George, so his program is going to be starting in November and he would have time to go to France."

Sam Waley-Cohen's quirky story has captured the imagination, with the 28-year-old juggling riding commitments with his job as chief executive of Portman Healthcare, a string of dental practices.

"It's a highly personalised company, and hopefully my doing well will help," he said.

"I've just taken over a place in Faringdon (near Lambourn) and quite a few jockeys go in there!

"I know people like the angle of me being an amateur against the professionals but there is real camaraderie in the weighing room.

"People like Ruby Walsh and AP McCoy came over to congratulate me and I got to sign my name by my peg in the weighing room. Seeing that up there with all the other names on the wall was really something."