I make no similarity with them as far as form is concerned, they all had differing tactics and preps and had differing trainers etc. The one thing a heck of a lot of Gold Cup winners have in common though is that they only won one and were never quite the same after. Now i know he is only 6, and i have already said i would love to see the young boy rout them on Monday and win hard held, as a new superstar would be fantastic for the sport but just cannot see it. I can have a horse come on a ton for a run in a handicap as last term, and as last term no one really new how potentially good LR could be, arguably we still don't but until he has proven it as a 2nd seasoned better than top class individual i.e winning the KG on Monday, then i hold judgement and am ready to back anything else against him!

Haydock to honour Kauto Star with statue

By James Burn racingpost.com

HAYDOCK and Betfair have teamed up to commission a statue of Kauto Star to recognise the brilliant chaser's achievements at the track.

The 11-year-old landed his fourth Betfair Chase at Haydock when he thrashed Long Run last month and sculptor Willie Newton has been chosen to make a bronze of Clive Smith's superstar.


"I am thrilled at this fantastic gesture," beamed Smith. "The horse has really captured the public's imagination and hearts throughout his career, never more so than in the Betfair Chase, and it is an honour to have him recognised in this way."

Kauto Star's trainer Paul Nicholls added: "Kauto Star gave me my proudest day in 20 years as a trainer when he won his fourth Betfair Chase and this is deserved recognition for the great horse. Itwill be a constant reminder of that amazing day."

The two-time Gold Cup winner, who will bid for his fifth King George VI Chase at Kempton on Monday, also won the Betfair Chase in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Haydock's managing director, Dickon White, reflecting on this year's race, said: "Everyone who was at the racecourse last month to see his victory will recall the race vividly for the rest of their lives.  It was truly one of the most outstanding performances by a racehorse in the modern era."

Yup I think LR is going to reverse the Haydock form and it will be LR and KS in the forecast

hope you right Budd, backed him at 20's when he beat 1833 at the track earlier in the season. On breeding, he looks like he'll enjoy 3 miles.

I will give up gambling for rest of year if Somersby wins!

yes there is no reason why Sommersby won't run a decent race and he has always looked a stayer. Indeed I was expecting him to be campaigned at 3 miles plus ever since the Arkle. Anyway, would be a surprise should he win but a good effort is entirely reasonable

always had somersby down as a non stayer !!!!

not beyond KS not finishing the race,cant have him for this after Haydock,could also open the door for a lively outsider to grab a place,a lot of doubts about many of the runners LR should win.

Long Run earns my vote to conquer Kauto Star in the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day

The King George VI Chase looks like it will be a classic, so it is all the more disappointing that I'll be sitting it out with none of my regular rides among the eight runners.


By AP McCoy  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/

A year ago I rode Kauto Star while Ruby Walsh was injured and we were well beaten by Long Run into third. He's been an amazing horse, winning this race four times, and for whatever reason, it looks like he was suffering an 'off' season in 2010-11. At Haydock on his return he looked back to his best and you can never discount him.
Having said that, I believe Long Run will take all the beating. A lot of Nicky Henderson's best horses improve for their first run and I'd be surprised if he's not improved a lot from being beaten by Kauto Star at Haydock.
I don't think Master Minded will stay as well as either of those two and if I was to suggest a forecast on the race it would be Long Run to be followed home by Captain Chris.


My best ride at Kempton on Boxing Day is Binocular in the Williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle (2.35).
He is defending the title he won a year ago when beating Overturn by four lengths. That form was reversed by Overturn at Newcastle this season but I am confident Binocular will have come on leaps and bounds for the run. I schooled him on Thursday morning and he felt in great shape and he came to this race last season after a similarly disappointing run at Newcastle. Overturn can be a tough nut to crack but I am hopeful of victory and reckon Rock On Ruby is my biggest danger.

I start the day on Temple Lord in the William Hill Home of Betting Novice Handicap Chase (1.25). His first two runs were at Ffos Las and I was a bit disappointed he didn't win either. He had been off the track for a long time before the first run, so that could have been a reason. He did win last time at Folkestone, although only he and one other stood up, but he's improving, his jumping is a bit better and hopefully he has a chance in what is a competitive little chase. Our Mick is the one to beat.

Teaforthree is not a bad sort and beat Restless Harry by 3½ lengths at Chepstow last time but he meets three of the best novice chasers in the country in the Williamhill.com Feltham Novice Chase (2.0).

This is a real belter of a race with Bobs Worth, Grands Crus and Silviniaco Conti in it. In all probability the quicker Kempton track won't suit Teaforthree quite as well as Chepstow as he feels like an out-and-out stayer.

Of the other three, we've got Bobs Worth who has not been beaten since second in his first bumper, Silviniaco Conti looks to have improved since he was beaten by Cue Card first time out and Grands Cru. Purely on their hurdling form I'd go with Grands Crus who has looked a natural chaser in both starts over fences.

If Kauto Star wins the King George no one will take much notice of the last race, the Bet With Williamhill.com on Your Mobile Handicap Hurdle (3.40) in which I ride Christoper Wren. He's won his last two races at Leicester and seems to be on the upgrade. Hopefully he has a great chance but Knight Pass, favourite for last season's Cheltenham Bumper, looks well weighted having won at Exeter and then been beaten on dead ground at Sandown





ima_mazed66
24 Dec 11 13:21   











Anyone saying they don't think Master Minded will stay, are you just saying that purely because the horse is yet to go 3 miles or is there anything specific that makes you think so?

It's not like he's going from 2 miles to 3 miles in one step with no evidence of staying anything in between, as the horse has winning form at 2m 4f at Aintree when beating Albertas Run by 9L and also won the Amlin Chase last time at Ascot which is 2m 3f and beat Somersby 3L there. That horse has winning and placed form at 2m 4½f and Master Minded also won the Amlin the year before beating I'msingingtheblues by 16L and I know they maybe aren't the very top notch but they have won and been placed in their fair share of fairly decent races.....plus after coming off the last bend at Ascot it's uphill all the way and takes some getting.

I'm not saying Master Minded definitely will stay but was just interested in any reasons why anyone with a view thought that he wouldn't. Having said that I wouldn't be too surprised if he made the frame and not entirely shocked if he won or went close barring any mishaps. We've seen horses like One Man and Edredon Bleu win it in the past when shorter trips probably suited them better.





Anaglogs Daughter
24 Dec 11 13:40   











Chris McGrath independent.co.uk:

Long Run haunted by a ghost of Christmas past

Inside Track: Boxing Day history beckons after a star is reborn in legendary four-time winner KautoHe stands on the threshold between present and past, life and legend.

As the only horse to win the King George VI Chase four years running, Kauto Star returns to Kempton on Boxing Day already guaranteed a place in steeplechasing lore alongside Desert Orchid, that grey phantom of Christmas past. But a miraculous rejuvenation means that he remains a tangible force for the here and now, as well.

Clive Smith, his owner, knows how perilous that margin can be. In 1966, he patted Arkle on the backside as he was led away. "Goodbye, old mate," he said. He knew that defeat by Dormant must spell the end of a career that remained sacred against all comparison until Kauto Star's fourth win, in 2009, by an eye-watering 36 lengths.

Smith also has distressing memories of Desert Orchid's final appearance, in the 1991 running. The veteran was well beaten when coming down three out, and Smith has long said that he would like to spare Kauto Star that kind of indignity.

And the fact is that many of us, a year ago, could no longer see how some such exit might be avoided. Kauto Star finally seemed in decline. He would have been perfectly within his rights. Not quite three years old when first raced over hurdles, in France, he had become the first jumper to win Grade One prizes in seven different seasons. Back at Kempton, he showed none of his usual gusto as Long Run – not even born when Kauto Star won his first race in Britain, at Newbury's own Christmas meeting in 2004 – apparently gave formal notice of a changing of the guard.

Paul Nicholls, his trainer, was affronted by suggestions that the horse be retired, understandably aggrieved that anyone might presume greater concern about Kauto Star's welfare. But the horse's fans had been terrified by the horse's marrow-shaking fall in the Cheltenham Gold Cup the previous March. It did seem legitimate to fret that any future gains for Kauto Star – for all his relish for his calling – could scarcely justify the implicit risks.

His next performance, back in the Gold Cup, itself contained sufficient vestiges of his pomp to vindicate Nicholls, albeit Long Run ultimately reiterated the new pecking order. When Kauto Star was pulled up at Punchestown, however, the game seemed up. He had now been beaten in four of his last five starts.

Once again, Nicholls and Smith persevered. And they were rewarded, on the horse's comeback at Haydock last month, with a breathtaking revival. Over breakfast, Nicholls had told Ruby Walsh to let the horse bowl along in front. "Do I give him a breather?" the jockey asked. Nicholls knew he had left no margin for error in the horse's fitness. "No," he said.

In extending his Grade One spree into an eighth season, Kauto Star jumped so aggressively that Long Run became dazed by the pursuit, losing his rhythm and dropping away before rallying bravely over the final fences. The place went berserk, and it was easy to indulge Nicholls his pride and emotion. Always so open, even when sorely tested by the turn of events, the champion trainer is entitled to equal candour when proved right. And it had turned out that his faith was not blind.

Nicholls feels now that Kauto Star was never right last season. "He was making a noise, and I said to Clive that you'd give a younger horse a breathing operation," he said. "He was so lethargic. He was never going to win the King George, at any stage. But at Haydock I thought he would from the moment he went to the front."

And so the stage is set for a fourth, classic shoot-out between the old king and his young usurper – so much so that Master Minded, another top-class steeplechaser in Smith's colours, barely warrants a footnote. William Hill, the race sponsors, have favoured Long Run throughout, Nicky Henderson having apparently left him short of his peak for Haydock, with Kempton and Cheltenham in mind. But Nicholls has been cheerfully dismissive of that theory. "You're not going to run a horse as good as him, a six-year-old, in a 200-grand Grade One, and need the race too much," he said. "Long Run looked superb in the paddock. I'm sure he's going to improve, but he's got to find eight lengths with us."

There is a reciprocal certainty in Long Run's owner, Robert Waley-Cohen. "As far as we're concerned, it was a dress rehearsal," he said. "Ours is a tricky horse to motivate and get ready first time out." His silks will as usual be worn by his son, Sam – and Waley-Cohen feels those conspicuous forced errors at Haydock were misleading. "Technically, it was the horse's most proficient display," he said. "He just wasn't quite matching strides with Kauto Star in the back straight. At Kempton last year, the reverse was true. And, unlike Kauto Star, he's never fallen or been pulled up."

Both camps seem adamant that they have the overall momentum, and each would relish seeing off a rival diluting the stature of their own horse. "People normally get behind the reigning champion," Waley-Cohen observed. "They want to see a great champ, see him confirm that he is the real thing. But on this occasion everyone wants to see the old boy have a last hurrah."

No quarter will be sought or given between Walsh, the peerless professional, and a rival who runs a chain of dental practices. But Waley-Cohen believes the unsparing nature of the contest will play to Long Run's strengths. "He was outstanding at Kempton last year, and outstanding in the Feltham [for novices, over the same course and distance] the year before," he said. "There's no opportunity for a breather round there. You just go as fast as you can, for as long as you can. There's no pity, no mercy, in a King George."

Nicholls agrees that it is a myth that Kempton is a pure test of speed. In fact, he reckons it a stiffer test than Cheltenham. "There's no hiding place round there," he said. Nothing else for it, then. They'll just have to run.

Marvellous. He made me cry.