The build-up to this year's totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup has been billed as “the Decider” with all the ballyhoo of a prize-fight but, thankfully, without the trash-talk that now seems almost obligatory in the world of pugilism.
If this was a match at the Caesar's Palace then at about ten past three this afternoon Michael Buffer - the master of ceremonies who would look as though he was dressed for a night at the Ritz - would announce: “And now for the thousands race fans in attendance and many more around the country - LET'S GET READY TO RUMMMMBULL. Three miles, two furlongs and 110 ten yards for the undisputed steeplechasing championship of the world!
“In the red corner, weighing in at 555kilos, we have the former champion Denman! And, in the blue corner, tipping the scales at a trim 530kilos, the champion – Kauto Star!”
If Denman is the slugger then Kauto Star is the stylist who relies on the silky skills that have brought 13 Grade One victories. He established himself as the best chaser of the last forty years when he beat Madison Du Berlais by 36 lengths in the King George VI Chase, at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, to become the first jumper to earn an official handicap rating of over 190, so it was no surprise that Ruby Walsh rated Kauto Star as the horse he wanted to ride in the Gold Cup for a fourth time.
These horses have, between them, have dominated the last three Gold Cups, while the personal score between the two stars of Paul Nicholls’ yard stands at 1-1 and the trainer once again finds himself facing his most familiar adversary; the one he greets in the mirror each morning. Ever since Denman bulldozed his way into the major league Nicholls knew that he would spend these seasons bringing two of the best horses he will ever train to a peak where there would only ever be room for one to bestride the summit.
Someone would always have to give and, although Nicholls politely deflected the question in previous years, this time around he finds it hard to believe that Kauto Star can be beaten. “The preps gone right, we know how to have him at his best now and he looks fab at the moment,” he said.
“There used to be a few doubts about his jumping and one thing or another. But he’s got more professional now – he’s older, wiser, Ruby knows him and Cheltenham seems to suit him very well. He doesn’t really mind what the ground is.
“Two years ago he didn’t quite run up to his best in the Gold Cup. He’d run at Ascot, had a problem and I learned that I’d probably left my race behind at Ascot and that’s why I didn’t make that mistake again. About the same time he hit a spell where you wouldn’t have thought he’d ever won a two-mile chase. He looked a bit slow, a bit idle and I don’t know why but he’s got through that now. He’s showing loads of speed and enthusiasm now. I don’t know why. They can’t talk and that’s the problem with this job - they can’t tell you – but you just know when they’re not quite right. But I think Kauto is probably the best he’s ever been.”
But when Nicholls speaks about Kauto Star he balances his own argument with his views on Denman, who put up an admirable performance to finish second in last year’s Gold Cup having been laid low by a fibrillating heart problem. He then carried top weight to win the Hennessy Gold Cup but then tried to carry home the third-last fence in the Aon Chase at Newbury last month. “After he won the Hennessy everyone was raving about him and then, just because he makes one unfortunate mistake,” Nicholls said, his voice trailing off as he considered the fickleness of those who would now dismiss Denman’s chances. “You can’t just write him off. Denman is just one of those that you just wouldn’t know on the day, if he put everything into it, jumped right, he’s a very, very good horse.”
For all that he has described Kauto Star as the “horse of a lifetime” Nicholls cannot quite reconcile the annual battle he has with himself, so he simply tries to focus on the prize. “It’s hard when you train them both,” he admitted “because one of them’s got to get beat. But Kauto’s going into the race off the back of probably one of his best-ever performances whereas Denman’s had a little bit of a hiccup.
“It’ll give me satisfaction to win the race –and it would be the fifth time we’ve won the race – and on form they look well in front of the rest. I’m going there wanting to win the Gold Cup and one of them’s going to get beat.”
And the result? Kauto Star on points.
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