Alan Lee in The Times
In the warm afterglow of another breathtaking win for Kauto Star, Paul Nicholls confessed he had spent the preceding days in a state of nervous tension, adding that he did not expect to enjoy the four remaining weeks before the Gold Cup. Yet even Nicholls's instinctive foreboding could not envisage the news that broke around him as he travelled back from Ascot to Somerset on Saturday evening.
Kauto Star was lame, initially feared to have sprained a fetlock. Almost before the trainer digested the bombshell, betting exchange business exposed the usual sad trading on misfortune. Thankfully, such fingers may have been burnt. By sunrise yesterday, the scare was over, the Gold Cup winner declared sound and restored to favouritism for the showdown with his stablemate, Denman, on March 14.
Examination by Nicholls's vet, Buffy Shirley-Bevan, confirmed the suspicion of the racecourse vet that lameness was caused by infection in a hind foot. Simple treatment cured the discomfort. “By mid-morning, he was doing 20 minutes on the walker,” Nicholls said. “He'll have a quiet two days but won't miss any work. Panic over.”
At what cost to the nerves of this obsessive trainer is another matter. “It wasn't a good night and I was nervous going in this morning,” he admitted. “We've been lucky over the last two years to have an injury-free, scare-free run. Something was bound to happen and you just hope this was it.”
In common with most trainers, Nicholls believes the influence of betting exchanges to be largely malign and he looked back with distaste on the speed with which Kauto Star drifted the previous evening.
“I was half-way home and had no idea anything was wrong,” he recalled. “By the time I got a call from my staff at the course, all hell had broken loose. Someone must have seen him walk lame as he was loaded on the lorry and got straight on the phone. It put us under immediate pressure over something we would have preferred to deal with quietly.”
No chance, now, of doing anything quietly if it concerns either horse in this captivating match-up. Nicholls habitually hurls himself into the Cheltenham countdown, believing in the “good PR” of appearing at preview nights and press days. But the demands of an avid public for every last detail will see his equanimity tested as never before.
Kauto Star was devastating in winning the Commercial First Ascot Chase by eight lengths, not least because so much was against him. Quite apart from any pain he may have been feeling from his infected foot, he was running over an inadequate trip and on a right-handed track. Yet his jumping was flawless - the last-fence frights of last season now a remote memory - and victory over stern opponents was never in doubt.
“I don't think I've ever been so nervous as I have this week,” Nicholls said. “I felt the pressure because a lot was not in his favour - and our recent record at Ascot isn't great.” Indeed, the champion stable had won with only six of its last 60 runners there before Kauto's course debut registered Nicholls's 100th win of the season.
Before and after the race, the terraces and balconies overlooking the paddock were packed. Kauto Star was clapped around the parade ring, roared back in triumph and then clapped as he exited to the stables.
Paradoxically, the noisiest man on the course was probably Harry Findlay. “I watched it in Harry's box, which was quite an experience,” Nicholls said. “You'd never have known he was Denman's co-owner, the way he was roaring Kauto home.”
The friendly rivalry of this contest was reflected later in the Findlay household. “My missus and daughter rarely get involved with the racing but when they heard Kauto was lame, they were mortified,” Findlay said yesterday. “We all want this race to happen.”
Similar sentiments were evident down at Ditcheat, where Paul Barber, Nicholls's landlord but Findlay's partner in Denman, was constantly on hand and delighted by the veterinary all-clear for the horse that could deny him another Gold Cup.
With the possible exception of the killjoy exchange layers, nobody wants this marvellous prospect to be undermined. This is a Gold Cup for racing to savour, precisely because it will entrance far more folk than would traditionally show an interest. Just 25 more sleepless nights for Nicholls to endure.