Kauto Star sets sights on historic third Cheltenham Gold Cup

When the celebrations finally started to settle down after Kauto Star had recorded his astonishing fifth victory in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing day, thoughts turned towards the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

Kauto Star, the winner in 2007 and runner-up to Denman in 2008, became the first horse in history to regain his Cheltenham Gold Cup crown when he ran out an impressive 13-length winner in 2009. When he was pulled up at Punchestown in May 2011 there was speculation that we may have seen the last of this great chaser but trainer Paul Nicholls was in no rush to make a hasty decision and how right he was.

He began this campaign with a sensational victory over Long Run in Haydock’s Betfair Chase which set him up for his record run at Kempton. Even after Haydock there was a general expectation that the younger and more progressive Long Run would strip fitter and take his revenge in the King George but it wasn’t to be. In fact, Kauto Star gave him a lesson in jumping and last year’s Gold Cup winner was losing ground at every fence as he tried in vain to catch his rival up the straight. To Long Run’s credit, he never gave up trying and managed to get within a length and a quarter at the line.

Now the pressure is on Long Run and Nicky Henderson’s stable to get the reigning champion back to his best for March. Henderson believes they may have “over-relaxed” the horse in their attempts to settle him and one more prep race is possible for his stable star. He still retains favouritism at 5-2 in the Cheltenham betting with Kauto Star at 4-1 in the belief that the greater test of stamina could see the result reversed from Kempton.

Nicholls has no such concerns. Having lost Denman to retirement he will be pinning his faith in Kauto Star to re-write the record books yet again at Cheltenham. Already the leading money winner in National Hunt history, he has now won Grade 1 races in seven consecutive seasons and sixteen in total. All being well, he will line up for his seventh Cheltenham festival on 16th March and his army of fans will be cheering him over every fence as he attempts to add yet another chapter to his remarkable story.