Kauto Star

Yeah bound to run Grand Crus now.

After saying Kauto wouldn't get up the hill this year I was really begining to have a change of heart and thinking maybe he could win it.

If he does miss the race but is 100% ok as big a fan as I am I honestly wouldn't be too upset.


I would dearly love to see him win one more King George and set a record that would most likely stand forever. Winning 5 was something else but Winner of 6 King George's would be like some amazing fairy tale.

I wish him luck whatever way it goes
 
Nicholls has had bad luck recently. All he needs now is a dose of equine herpes* to hit the yard.

* I cannot believe it is 5 years since I used this expression on the forum. Have old threads been deleted? I vow to use it at least every six months henceforth.
 
Worst news so far in the build up to the festival. The Gold cup will be half the race it should be if Kauto isn't there.
 
Half? I was thinking more like a non-event. I am so gutted that I can't really put it into words.

The one positive is that if he does make it the appreciation he will get for entering the paddock will far exceed that which any other horse gets for winning, and if he were able to do the unthinkable then it would be even more brilliant than anybody could have expected. We can but hope.
 
Maybe it will add to the other 27 races though, and not be the usual hype and build up to the Gold Cup?
 
It would be a shame if he can't make it but at least he has done well this season and shown that his efforts last term were below par. It could even be a blessing in disguise, the Gold Cup is a rough race and he's been though his fair share.

As with Denman it's a mixture of disappointment and some part relief. I'd love to see him take part but also wonder if he'd be up against it this time.
 
Just got home and read the news about Kauto. All I can think is thank goodness he's ok, given that it was a heavy fall. I've been watching re runs of Cheltenham races, and it shocked me to re watch the fall he had the other year; hadn't realised how bad it was and how lucky he was to walk away from it. How strange to think of a Gold Cup without Denman and Kauto.
 
It's strange how different people have different opinions on this.

I am devastated because the horse may have been robbed of this historic opportunity. I find it so hard to think 'at least he won't have another hard race'. We all know he is a great horse, perhaps the greatest many of us will ever see, however, he would definitely be the greatest we have ever seen should he win that 3rd Gold Cup. I thought he had a chance of doing just that so will be absolutely gutted should he not get that opportunity.
 
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What a sickener. I'm relieved he appears to be okay, obviously, but I was really hopeful of a big run. I'm gutted for the horse, not just because he's been so well this season, but because he's had more than his share of crunching falls and has come back from all of them.
 
Katharine said:
What a sickener. I'm relieved he appears to be okay, obviously, but I was really hopeful of a big run. I'm gutted for the horse, not just because he's been so well this season, but because he's had more than his share of crunching falls and has come back from all of them.
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For a horse that for much of his career was in fairness not the best of jumpers he's done very well to fall so few times. The older he gets the less likely it is that he will retain that cat-like agility he has shown, which helps him to find a leg when needed.
 
Agreed, Steve. I can't bring myself to rewatch the 2010 Gold Cup because his mistake, and then the fall, were awful.

It's so disappointing, especially with the way he'd been jumping in his most recent races.
 
SteveM said:
...I've never seen him jumping better than recently.
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Jumped like a stag in both the Betfair and King George without even a semblance of a mistake on either occasion. It was tremendous to watch. I am praying that he can offer up the same display in 2 weeks time. This is a horse that has proved everybody wrong on numerous occasions and I hope he can do it one last time.
 
Clive Smith doesn't seem best pleased. He was "unhappy" with the fall and thought the news should have been broken sooner. I wonder what happened. Reading between the lines, Ruby seems to be suggesting he took off a bit early, Smith says he hit the top, Nicholls has said nothing. I wonder did Ruby ask him for a big one!!
 
Katharine said:
Agreed, Steve. I can't bring myself to rewatch the 2010 Gold Cup because his mistake, and then the fall, were awful.

It's so disappointing, especially with the way he'd been jumping in his most recent races.
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Sounds funny to say it about a horse that has won the Gold Cup twice, but Cheltenham isn't really his thing. The Gold Cup fall as you say could have been so much worse, but I also shudder when I think of him falling in the Champion Chase. He made a complete guess at it. It is only his brilliance that has seen him succeed at Cheltenham. I breathe much more easily when he's let loose round Kempton.
 
Cantoris said:
Ruby seems to be suggesting he took off a bit early, Smith says he hit the top, Nicholls has said nothing. I wonder did Ruby ask him for a big one!!
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...just like the Champion Chase. He took off far too early, blamed on the bright sunshine at the time I seem to remember.
 
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