Kauto Star was the great champion he was because of the brilliant handling by Nicholls / Baker / Cook and especially Walsh who helped him jump superbly whilst most of the time being able to cope with the odd mistake he could throw in and get him past the post 1st.  Yes Smith is the owner but the acrimonious split with Nicholls seems to have clouded Smiths judgement and led to a disastrous outcome for Kauto Star.  His last wins at Haydock and Kempton where as good a round of fast accurate jumping one could wish to see from a race horse.

I think the circumstances of his untimely death are unsatisfactory it did read a bit like they hadn't appreciated how serious the situation was until four days after the accident.  Collett tweeting pictures from her photo shoot straight after a token message about Kauto Star was classless.  It seems the public cared more about the horse than some of the connections.