Interesting Facts about Kauto Star
Kauto Star was foaled in France in 2000 from Village Star and Kauto Relka, the combination of his sire’s second and his dam’s first were used to form his own. The horse was impressive even in the early part of his career in France where his performance on the hurdles was so extraordinary that he was nicknamed “L’Extraterrestre” (The Extraterrestrial). His current trainer, Paul Nicholls first saw him in a video which amazed him so much that he proceeded to arrange for a buyer, Clive Smith, who paid 400,000 Euros for the horse to his owners in France.
Kauto Star is a gelding, meaning that he is a castrated male horse. He is of bay color, 1.6 meters tall up to the shoulder and weights around 520 kg, almost seven times more than that the average male. To achieve this, he eats twice as much as the average horse, four times a day, consisting on a diet of high protein and low starch racehorse cubes. He trains six days of the week and goes to bed by 6 PM. His strength shows in his racing ability. His average speed is 47 km/h and he is famous for his “side-step”, or acceleration. Throughout the year, he goes through over 100 horse shoes, 20 sets of steel shoes and five sets of aluminum racing plates.
Kauto Star has won 15 of the 22 total races he has attended (21 in the UK, one in Ireland). For 19 of these races, he rode for jokey Ruby Walsh. Kauto Star was the first horse to win over 2 million pounds total prize money, breaking this record in December 2009’s King George IV Chase cup along with two other notable records. He is the only horse to have won the King George IV Chase four times consecutively, displacing horse-racing legend Desert Orchid’s four wins in five years, by a record distance of 36 lengths from his next opponent, displacing the 30 lengths established by another horseracing legend (Arkle) in 1966. Furthermore, Kauto Star is the only horse to have regained a Cheltenham Gold Cup title. After winning in 2007, he lost to his stable mate Denman in 2008; last year, he regained the title, beating Denman. These incredible achievements have propelled Kauto Star into the columns and clips of the worldwide press, drawing a large amount of attention to the sport that on a scale that has not been seen in 40 years.
In the aftermath of the 2009 King George IV Chase, Kauto Star has earned a safe spot amongst the ratings of the best horses in UK history. He received a Racing Post Rating of 192, earning him the highest rating ever bestowed on a national hunt horse. Time form publications awarded the highest rating awarded to a horse since the 1960s, placing him amongst the legends of the sport; he received 191 tying with Mill House, only behind Flyingbolt’s 210 and Arkle’s 212. If he continues to perform as he has, he has a solid chance of reaching and surpassing these scores.
The anticipation to the Cheltenham Gold Cup is extremely tense. He will face his stable mate Denman, the same horse to who he lost the Cheltenham Gold Cup title in 2008. If Kauto Star wins, he will join Best Mate (2002-2004), Arkle (1964-1966), and Cottage Rake (1948-1950) with the achievement of having won the Gold Cup three times, only behind Golden Miller’s (1932-1936) five consecutive wins.
Despite his racing rivalry with Denman, the two are united under the same stable roof in Somerset and share the same trainer, Paul Nicholls, and the same jockey, Ruby Walsh. They are best friends and greet each other warmly with nuzzles. In 2008, during Denman’s absence from the stable due to heart problems, Kauto was full of angst and upset, calming only once Denman had returned. Apart from his loyalty and determination, Kauto Star is playful when not training, digging up his bed and rolling around every evening.
Kauto Star has recently been featured in film, in a starring role, alongside Denman, in a film to promote Somerset. It costs his owner over $26,000 Canadian a year in total costs including food, stable fees, training fees and entry fees. Kauto Star has two half-brothers which race in the UK, Kauto the Kid and Kauto Relko.
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