KAUTO STAR WINS!!

Congratulations to all his connections - bloody fantastic race!
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Kate x
 
Not bad, but lets not forget that the second placed horse has been off for a good part of last season through heart trouble.

Had Kauto beat a fully fit Denman, I would have been impressed, but I will reserve judgement until next year when both horses have had a full preparation.

Oh hang on, they both did last year, and guess who won then?
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Me, a bad loser? Never!
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Well done Kauto.
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Star by name and Star by nature.
Kauto was at his absolute best today. A brilliant race. I feel sorry for exotic dancer as he just keeps meeting two exceptional horses. It reminds me a bit of good old Mill house in the days of Arkle. (For those of you old enough to remember!)
 
the most marvelous horse. a very very long time since i have seen one that good. and no excuses for denman really if you use model of consistency exotic dancer as a yard stick. even if denman had beaten him five lengths he wouldnt have been closeto the winner. The best horse won this year. Fantastic.
 
I put this on the other thread - Last year Kauto Star won a Grade 1 at Ascot on 18th February and was found to have pus in his foot when they got him home. That was probably a factor in his second place to Denman less than four weeks later and he battled up the hill to get that. Denman's race prior to his Gold Cup win was a Grade 2 on 9th Feb.

I'll go with what the jockey said "He's the greatest horse I've ever ridden. Two miles, three miles, now two Gold Cups. He's magic, he's a wonder horse."

Also pleased with getting on him at 3-1 after his third King George!
 
it was just so easy for him. As i said on a thread a while ago, that to me is the measure of greatness, that appearing to canter while others flail and flounder. did you see how far he stood off some of those fences? and lets remember that even with his interupted prep, denman still beat good horses and Kauto went past the lot of them like they were standing still. To give a beating like that to another gold cup winner. Only one other horse has done that and this is the first one that i have seen that i can clearly remember, that deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as the great and unsurpassable Arkle. I wonder how far he would have won if Ruby had really slapped him. 3 king georges, 2 gold cups. The horse is a legend. I bow.
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He is amazing but I am still in the Denman camp and i think he did fab too, to come second (and he was fighting) beating Exotic Dancer after how poorly he was last year is pretty fantastic really considering that Exotic Dancer is no donkey!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Not bad, but lets not forget that the second placed horse has been off for a good part of last season through heart trouble.

Had Kauto beat a fully fit Denman, I would have been impressed, but I will reserve judgement until next year when both horses have had a full preparation.

Oh hang on, they both did last year, and guess who won then?
smirk.gif


Me, a bad loser? Never!
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Well done Kauto.
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was just looking at last yrs stats...
same ground and kauto put in a faster time this yr than denman last
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Woah lovely pics. When he finished the race ha was barely sweaty then obviously he sweated up lots. That horse is a machine. So athletic. and Denman looked great too. Paul nicholls is amazing.
 
i just love the BBC news. they've just described him as "the first thoroughbred to retain the Gold Cup."
oh well, lucky so many carthorses and pit ponies have managed the feat before, obviously!
sorry, just can't help being a right old pedant sometimes!
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particualrly as his distinction is to be the first horse of any kind to regain the title having lost it previously.
arkle, cottage rake, golden miller, best mate and captain christy all RETAINED it, more than once in most of those cases!
 
There is a god, and I just watched him today.
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At last, Lu, he's up there with Dessie.
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Denman is a magnificent horse, but he beat a below par KS last year.

When Denman wins Grade 1 chases from 2m to the Gold Cup trip, then I'll accede he is on a par.
It won't happen. He doesn't have the class.

Those of you cribbing him, accept we have the priviledge of seeing greatness in action......it happens too rarely to pick at it.

That was feckin awesome..................
 
A fantastic race.

About three out there was an almost head on television picture of all three in a line, Kauto Star, Denman, & (the beautiful) Neptune Collonges -described by the commentator as 'The Nichols Triumvate'
If anyone knows where there might be a similar picture that I could see I'd appreciate the link.
 
It was good, Zebedee, wasn't it?

I really enjoyed watching it, every horse seemed to travel and jump, not like the QM which was a messy tense race.

We're in a purple patch of chasers right now, and how Jonjo must wish poor old Exotic Dancer had been a decade before!
 
Sos late in posting as not had time due to doing Chelt form last week and also I got logged off here for some reason and couldn't get back on
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My browser updated and logged me off ( never has done before) and have only had the time today to sort it as when I was online last week it was to read Chelt form.
But anyway after that drivel. I can honestly say that was one of the best gold cups I have seen for a long time. I cried after the race. Not just because I backed the first and second, but because they both ran their hearts out.
KS was awesome and I agree about the Dessie comments now. I did cramp him earlier in the year as I did wonder whether he truly had that staying power especially as he had had that much 'toe' over shorter trips. I was also worried about his jumping too. He makes errors but is very clever even when he does and puts himself right ( good horses do that). But on Friday he didn't make his customary final ( or next to last) fence blunder and bloody winged it. What a horse!
At the third last the Nicholls's main trio were all in a line and jumped it almost together. But Kauto oozed class and race fitness turning for home to burn off his rivals. Take nowt away from the winner but Denman ran a corker! I had Denman last year to win. This year my money was on KS with an ew saver on Denman. After a huge setback this season he did well to even be lining up in the race, let alone finish a good second! I cramped the chances of Denman after his heart troubles but only had him ew on the day as 7/1 was too big a price and if Nicholls' had said he had schooled well on the run up to the race, you can bet he had. Nicholls is the most honest National Hunt trainer I have ever interviewed and I am in awe of him. He doesn't mince words, or keep things to himself as some gambling yards do, but he speaks openly.
The fact that he said Denman had put in some good work did it for me. Also on reflection when checking out the speed figures and ratings by the Racing Post for his last run when he got trounced by MDB then they were not that bad. Especially if you compared them to ratings recorded by horses running their first race for the season with the Gold Cup in mind, and also bearing in mind what later transpired on the CH4 interview in which the trainer said how they had D fit and well and ready to run but then the heart problem was diagnosed and he lost weight and was a very sick horse after. Race fit but lacking condition to aid in the recovery after his treatments by injections that were quite toxic ( I think the words were) for his heart beat irregularity.
Yes both were very good horses on the day.
KS for the manner of his win and also Denman for the way he overcame a huge setback and being held up in training to run the race of his life ( this season) to be runner up.
Exotic Dancer did me for the ew as I had backed him in previous years but I fancied the still ( I thought) improving Neptune Collonges to give them a run for their money.
Exotic Dancer is a good horse in his own right but I have yet to see ( in recent years) a truly spectacular chaser emerge after being victorious in the Paddy Power ( formerly Murphy's, Mackeson etc) Gold Cup at Chelt in November. That statement refers not just to winners during the same season as they contested the Gold Cup but also one's that won the race earlier in their career.
I hope KS gets a rest now to be honest and that both he and Denman have a trouble free run up to next year's race. But watch out for Cooldine though as he looked like a chaser on the upgrade. One to note after this year's RSA's win and after a substandard renewal last year, won by Alberta's Run ( no chance in this year's Gold Cup) then he could prove a danger to all if he continues on the upgrade next year for Mullins. He was well fancied by his trainer this year for the novice race and past RSA's winners have fared pretty well in good year's in the following year's Gold Cup ( until recently that is).
Caz
 
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