Kauto Star Gold Cup Betting Guide

Kauto Star Horse Profile

Kauto Star was foaled on 19 March 2000 at Henri Albert’s stud in France. His sire is Village Star, a grandson of Mill Reef, who won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and came fifth in the Arc as a five year old in 1988, under the master trainer Andre Fabre. His dam, Kauto Relka, did not race but comes from an established jumping family. She also shares Mill Reef as a grandsire, showing the influence of the 1971 Derby, King George and Arc winner does not restrict itself to the flat.

He was put into training with Serge Foucher, coming second on his debut in a flat race at Bordeaux. Soon he was jumping, and quickly established himself as a leading player in his age group, with his trainer christening him L’Extraterrestrial in honour of his freakish abilities. An 8-length victory in a Grade 3 at Auteuil in May 2004 caught the attention of bloodstock agent Anthony Gormley, and he persuaded golf course developer Clive Smith to pay 400,000 Euros (£280,000) for the horse, and he was sent to Paul Nicholls at Ditcheat in Somerset.

Kauto Star made an immediate impression on the British jumping scene on his first start for Nicholls at Newbury, slamming the Irish Champion Hurdle winner Foreman by nine lengths. His jockey for all but two starts since, Ruby Walsh, was suitably impressed and said he was ‘A machine. End of story.’ Kauto was made favourite for the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham the following March, and he scared the opposition away for his second appearance at Exeter. Facing two other rivals, he started at 2/11 (a price Denman’s owner Harry Findley later stated he lumped on), yet fell at the second last. This was not over, however, as Ruby remounted and just failed to catch Mistral De La Cour.

An injury was soon discovered which forced him out of Cheltenham, and he was put away for the year. His reappearance in the 2005 Haldon Gold Cup will forever be remembered as Best Mate’s last race, with the triple Gold Cup winner suffering a heart attack before the final fence. Few outside of Nicholls’ yard would have suspected that the heir to his throne as the dominant staying chaser would be in opposition that day. Kauto finished second to Monkerhostin, and although giving him 4lb, this is arguably the last time he was beaten fair and square. The Tingle Creek was next on the agenda, and stripping fitter for a race, Kauto beat a field including Ashley Brook and Monkerhostin for his first Grade 1 triumph. The Queen Mother Champion Chase at the festival was nominated as the target in a division where Moscow Flyer, Azertyuiop and Well Chief had ruled for several years.

Unfortunately, Kauto only got as far as the third fence at Cheltenham and connections of the 2/1 favourite could do little but watch as Newmill stormed up the hill by 9 lengths. This was to be the last race of another legend, as Moscow Flyer bowed out to retirement in fifth. To date, Moscow Flyer and Kauto Star share Timeform’s mantle as the sixth best jumps horse of all time, and the best since Desert Orchid, who is rated 3lb superior. After his Champion Chase fall, Nicholls chose to ignore the Aintree and Punchestown festivals and sent Kauto out into the field for the summer, with the aim of trying longer trips the next season. Betfair had recently put up a £1m pot for any horse that could win the Betfair Chase, King George and Gold Cup, and Clive Smith began backing his horse at a high of 139/1 to land the treble.

After only 5 races in nearly 2 years, it was decided Kauto would be campaigned more aggressively, and the first port of call was a limited handicap at Aintree over 2½ miles, where he slammed stablemate Armaturk by 21 lengths. Stamina did not look to be an issue that day, and the racing world was split over whether a horse that won a Tingle Creek less than a year ago would be able to stay a three mile trip. The Betfair Million would be the acid test, and the horse proved the doubters emphatically wrong with a devastating performance; an eased-down 21 length victory over nine-time Irish Grade 1 winner Beef Or Salmon. Ruby Walsh’s face told a thousand words and it was clear a new star had arrived in the staying ranks. Kauto was made a short price for the King George and usurped defending champion War Of Attrition at the head of the Gold Cup market.

These two races became the seasons’ priority, yet Kauto was in such good form a trip to Sandown to defend his Tingle Creek title was suggested. The move was equally praised for its boldness and condemned as foolhardy, but Kauto barely needed to come out of second gear to beat Voy Por Ustedes. The merits of this performance would not be truly realised until the runner-up won the 2 mile championship the following March, days before the Gold Cup. The King George at Kempton was next on the agenda, and at 8/13 Kauto was expected to plunder another major prize. Everything went as planned until the final fence, when he declined to jump and instead crashed through the birch, yet it didn’t cost him any momentum and Ruby stayed onboard. He was too far ahead for it to cost him the race, but jumping became an issue, and this was magnified when he again ploughed through the last in his Gold Cup prep run at Newbury. L’Ami and Tony McCoy, carrying a stone less, were within a neck at the finish line, and experts pointed out that the Cheltenham fences would be far less forgiving to any mistakes.

Kauto started at 5/4 for the Gold Cup, and despite having proved he was the best horse in the field there were plenty of people willing to oppose him on the day. The stamina doubt still lingered, and he had only got to the third fence in his other visit to the track. The race was run at an unusually slow pace, which played to Kauto’s strengths, and he stormed past the field going to the final fence, where despite a now trademark mistake he got over and ran up the hill to beat Exotic Dancer by 2½ lengths. This capped an unprecedented season of glory at several distances and he was named horse of the year for his accomplishments.

This season had promised to be more of a test for the champ, with returning Gold Cup winners Kicking King and War Of Attrition, as well as Arkle winner My Way De Solzen; but it has boiled down to a potential duel with stablemate Denman. After a defeat on reappearance, giving a stone to Monet’s Garden, some suggested last season had left its toll, but any doubts that he was not the horse of old have been comprehensively dispelled in three subsequent starts. Exotic Dancer got within a length at Haydock, but a fifth consecutive defeat at the hands of his old rival in the King George does little to suggest he may manage to win won one day. Kauto’s jumping is no longer an issue, and he has showed he can adapt to a test of speed or stamina. The injury scare after Ascot is dead and buried, and he heads to the Gold Cup as one of the greatest talents ever to grace the jumping game. Denman is unbeaten over fences, and has put up some frightening performances, but he will need to go to another planet to catch L’Extraterrestrial.

Kauto Star v Denman 2008 Guide

Denman Horse Profile

Gold Cup 2008 Betting Guide

Gold Cup 2008 Betting Odds