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Sky Sports saying he is back in training but would only go straight to the King George, no Betfair Chase or prep race.
Mike
same report in today’s Daily Mail, connections saying the horse wouldn’t be ready for the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November. Will Kauto Star get a sixth King George victory, really hope he does but fear time and old age might me catching up with him now.
i dont think there going to retire him if he reacts well to training why not aim him at king george and then call it a day
Interesting to read today that owner Clive Smith admits that, wherever he goes these days, including to other sporting events, people are nearly always urging him to retire Kauto Star instead of risking disaster or humiliation for the old warrior.
If that’s not a warning that it might all end in tears if he goes to the well once too often, I don’t know what is. He says he couldn’t bear it if Kauto fell at Kempton, as Desert Orchid did.
I hope it doesn’t turn into a Best Mate-style tragic end to the story, where that much-loved horse ended up being shown in a sickening series of photos collapsing and dying from a suspected heart attack at Exeter in 2005 at the end of the Haldon Gold Cup. Admittedly, it couldn’t have been predicted but it’s a chilling reminder of the fickle finger of fate.
No doubt if Kauto Star does run at Kempton, he will end up being pulled up or soundly beaten and ending his career on a real low — or something far worse.I note Crusty references Desert Orchid, who also went to the well one more time when 12 (rising 13) when coming a cropper (when beat) in the King George.
I’m firmly in the retirement camp. (I probably wouldn’t go to Kempton anyway – even though only 25 minutes round the M25 from me – as I seem to be jinxed. Only seen Kauto race twice, when falling (2010) and pulled up (2012) in the Cheltenham Gold Cup).
I said "au reviour" at Cheltenham.
I’ve just re read Seabiscuit [what an amazing book] and, for some reason I’ve come out of it with a feeling of ‘that’s what the trainer is paid to do and I’m no longer going to worry about it’. I’m sure PN said something to the effect of ‘they’re a long time retired’. I was someone who wanted him retired after Ireland, and how wrong I was. If something awful happens to him while he’s racing we’re the ones who will suffer, whereas Kauto is doing what he loves. I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions.
i dont think there going to retire him if he reacts well to training why not aim him at king george and then call it a day
Wouldn’t beat a fit Riverside Theatre
Looking forward to the stayers races this season. Henderson has a few, a few from Ireland that look good
Henderson should be thinking about every major race this season. Exter, Wetherby…just smash the whole lot up.
I hope he doesn’t run in the King George.
Everyone applauded him when he pulled up at Cheltenham mainly from relief that he was safe and sound and he was still with us.
Please Mr Nichols don’t let Kauto Star be used as a crowd puller for what could be a sub standard King George, let him take his retirement now.
Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Giving Kauto more time off than usual is not the worst idea Paul Nichols ever had. Time after time he brings them back when you think they have gone…Neptune Collonges on the brink of retirement is a classic example of what the man is capable off.
As I said in an earlier thread I doubt if they will hesitate to retire him if he doesn’t show them his old sparkle but should he run what’s going to beat him?
You could make a case for a few but not many and it’s got to be doubtful that SS will be stepped up until the end of this season or the next. Of those likely to run, unless Grand Crus gets his act together, Sprinter’s stable companion Finian’s Rainbow looks like the only horse who could progress enough to get near the Kauto who won last year and we don’t even know if he’ll get 3 miles.
Don’t really like to speculate when PN is involved he has a nasty habit of making those, on the retire him soap boxes, look like fools.
Paul Nicholls in Racing Post 3/9/12:
"Over the summer…people have been asking after Kauto. They all want to see him retired."
"I remember seeing Desert Orchid as a 12 year old having a crashing fall in the King George. I couldn’t bear anything like that happening to Kauto."
My suspicion is that expectations are being set for a retirement announcement.
Sprinter’s stable companion Finian’s Rainbow looks like the only horse who could progress enough to get near the Kauto who won last year and we don’t even know if he’ll get 3 miles.
When I saw Finian’s Rainbow as a novice hurdler, I had him down as a stayer and was actually surprised to see him go down the two mile route over fences. The manner of his win at Aintree along with the fact that he counts the likes of Lucky Town, He Who Dares Wins and Bonanza Boy amongst his relatives strongly suggests that three miles at Kempton shouldn’t bother him in the slightest.
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