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GOOOO KAUTO!!!!!!! Love absolutely LOVE that horse!! What a star. He was tired out his legs so heavy them last few furlongs yet still gave it his all and went on to win. Good performance from imperial commander. Brave effort. Kauto will only get better for that run, bring on the King George and then the GOLD CUP!!
What you said
.Every champion has to have great heart to go with their class…..Kauto has heart in abundance.Running on empty 3 out….and still won.King george number 4 surely a formality.Gold cup number 3 to follow.
Well done for Kauto for battling on, but you also have to say well done to Imperial Commander who went a few lengths behind the Gold Cup holder, and he came back to almost get him on the line, great run by Imperial Commander.
I thought that Imperial Commander had actually won, i thought Kauto had been beaten.
I thought he’d lost it too, but what a race! Neither of them deserved to lose. Can’t wait for the next round in the contest
I don’t believe he’s wrapped in cotton wool either. You can’t run a horse into the ground week after week and then expect it to win a Gold Cup. For one thing, he’s got nothing to gain by entering any more rces other than the top few. He has nothing to prove to anyone now.I stand by what I said:
i.e. wrapped in cooton wool and not fully tested.
Three choice races at level weights a year is hardly taxing for a "champion" and "peerless" racehorse – however great the horse might be.
Contrast Kauto Star’s campaign with that of an Arkle or a Desert Orchid. They ran every other week – and shipped lumps of weight into the bargain – and still won.
Ok, ok, ok, I know , I know, I know…
Kauto doesn’t do weights !
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Yet, in spite of my liking for the horse, his undoubted class, his achievements, his star popularity etc; there remains this niggling feeling in me that he has been somewhat wrapped in cotton wool and not fully tested – a charge often fired at the much mailgned Best Mate.
He may have been lightly campaigned in the latest season, but the last charge that can be levelled at Kauto Star is that he has been wrapped in cotton-wool to the extent that Best Mate was in his career.
Best Mate had 16 outings over fences in just over four seasons racing in steeplechases. Kauto has 21 starts over fences in the same timescale, has taken in three handicaps in that time, and has been campaigned in top races at trips between 2m and 3m2f, showing top-class form at all distances.
Their respective campaigns – taken over their entire careers – bear little resemblence, imo.
Its a bit like football himself. Todays competitors are finely toned athletes and all trained to a very high standard of fitness.
Martin Pipe changed the way national hunt horses were trained before then i.e. in the days of Arkle and Dessie fitness levels weren’t nearly as high as they are now. The sport has evolved and changed thats why its very difficult to compare horses from different eras. Because Kauto isn’t asked to concede weight to inferior horses doesn’t mean he is a lesser horse.
Absolutely tremendous race.
Kauto star
and
Imperial commander
proved today that they are a class apart,from todays opposition!I still cant believe Imperial never got back up,he clearly dug deeper going to the line!I have said it umpteen times but last years King george was a class race!This years will be even better!
I have said it umpteen times but last years King George was a class race! This years will be even better!
Absolutely! I’m really looking forward to Kauto beating his current winning distance record of 11L.
What a way to make history!
That was a really interesting race in many respects.
I too thought IC had won, or at least, had definitely not lost.
Why
didn’t
we get to see the photo?
There was a moment 3 or 4 out when KS was being pushed along and IC was just galloping too quickly for him.
That moment reminded me exactly of the time when Denman took KS out of his comfort zone in their 1st Gold Cup clash.
That is the only time when I have seen KS look vulnerable, where he couldn’t travel sweetly or come upsides back on the bridle once pushed.
I FULLY believe (as posted on last year’s GC thread) that if Denman can turn up 100 percent and there is cut in the ground, he will beat a 100 percent KS.
There are many that say KS was not himself when he lost that day to Denman. Maybe KS was not quite at his peak, but in my eyes Denman beat him comprehensively. Sure, the tank was out on his feet on the run in – but what horse wouldn’t be having broken a horse of KS’s calibre 2 furlongs from home?
Denman could be a great price come March – he is the only horse that can dethrone the mighty champ in that race. History can repeat itself.
As for today, KS showed all the other qualities a true champion embodies. The fact Paul Nicholls was so relieved to hear KS needed the run (as another forumite has mentioned)makes food for thought…did PN think KS was near his peak fitness wise?
IC will no doubt have a good EW chance on Boxing Day but I concur with others that KS will be near-impossible to conquer.
Zip
I stand by what I said:
i.e. wrapped in cooton wool and not fully tested.Himself,very rarely do you talk a lot of b******s,but there"s a first time for everything!
Agreed, tis b*****it I’m afraid, Himself.
Not like we can’t all still love each other or anything.
…and I suspect your tongue may be lodged somewhere in that chubby cheek of yours.
Zip
Thanks "APK". Noted !
Zip, Zip it !
Three races a year at levels – one which he invariably toils to win or falls
, another on a flat track against non stayers and boats at Xmas, and the biggy at Chelters, which no credible champ would think of missing 
… now, come on lads, it’s hardly testing his resolve now, is it? 
Post all hate letters to "himself", Scotland.
But Zip, I do agree, a fit Denman on the requisite surface will test KS to the very limits – and I do, as one who has backed him every Boxing Day, think that he is quite vulnerable this year to an up and coming usurper.
Quote me later in the season if you so wish. I can take it.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
- Total Posts 170
Can’t see them ever running him in the Hennesy!
I too thought IC had won, or at least, had definitely not lost.
Why
didn’t
we get to see the photo?
I’d go as far as to say the result stank – unless you backed Kauto, of course. Was I the only one to hear the boos on the announcement of the result?
Guardian Online: But as both horses gave of their all on the run-in, Imperial Commander summoned up another gutsy surge which brought him eye to eye with the 4-6 favourite and forced a photograph.
However, a distinctly partisan crowd around the winner’s enclosure burst into cheers when the judge called Kauto Star the winner.
A close inspection of the print of the photo finish later confirmed that, by a matter of millimetres, the correct result had been called despite the runner-up being available at 1-3 to get the race on the Betfair betting exchange.
Evidently, despite trainer Paul Nicholls’ upbeat bulletins in the build-up to the race, the fact that many of his team had so far been needing their first run of the season was a factor.
"This has been one of the most nerve-wracking weeks of my life – it’s hard to get horses fit for their first outing," said Nicholls. "We did want to win today but it is a bigger picture and I have learned that you can’t have them at their best for their first run of the season – you need to leave enough improvement.
"We can just fine tune him now for the King George and then go to Cheltenham so I am absolutely delighted."
Sponsors William Hill make Kauto Star a 10-11 chance to win next month’s King George at Kempton for a record fourth consecutive time. Imperial Commander’s jockey Paddy Brennan was unable to hold back tears of disappointment and trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies wore a shell-shocked expression after the judge confirmed the result.
"It’s horrible but I’m sure the camera doesn’t lie," he said. "All the experts said that he couldn’t stay, but why couldn’t he? He powered up the hill to win the Paddy Power in soft ground – of course he was going to stay. In fact, if today’s race had been at 3¼ miles, he’d have won easily. Bring on the Gold Cup."
I couldn’t find a print of the photo with a quick google search, anyone else?
Zip
Here’s a link to the photo:
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