Kauto Star – One of the best National Hunt horses in history
Although, the French-bred National Hunt horses are known to peak at a very young age, and their form usually goes away pretty quickly. However, Kauto Star is an exception, as his record clearly shows that he was strong at the start of his career, and still remains a threat to his rivals at the highest level.
The 12-year-old gelding made his horseracing debut in 2003, and participated in different events in France until his first year of racing. He was trained by Frenchman, S. Foucher, before moving to England at the end of 2004.
Under veteran Paul Nicholls’ training, Kauto Star took part in the Western Daily Press Club Novices’ Chase at Newbury in England on December 29, 2004. This was his first ever race outside of France, but the bookies knew what he was capable of, thus they had rated him as the joint-favourite to win.
The French gelding did not disappoint his owner, and stormed to a comfortable victory by nine lengths. However, this was just a start to an extremely successful career, as he went onto achieve greater things afterwards.
Village Star’s son, out of mare Kauto Relka, started off his 2005 season with a couple of runner-up positions at Exeter, but he improved his performances towards the end of that year, and managed to break his maiden class-1 victory at Sandown.
Things went really well for, Kauto Star, in the 2006-07 season, as he looked stronger than ever, and on top of it won five straight races before heading to the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
He claimed the King George VI Chase, Betfair Chase and the Tingle Creek Chase, consequently getting the best odds for the Gold Cup.
However, there was some pressure on the favourite gelding, as his critics did not trust his abilities over a distance more than three miles. Furthermore, a small mistake would have been extremely costly, as there were 22 fences to jump over.
Despite all the pressure, the Paul Nicholls’ trainee responded well and fought his way to the top, winning a cash prize of £242,335.
He got held up at the back in the early stages, but came back well to take the lead towards the end. No other runner was able to catch him and Jonjo O'Neill’s trainee, Exotic Dancer, finished as a runner-up by two and one-half lengths under veteran jockey, Tony McCoy.
In 2008, Kauto Star was expected to continue his dominance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but he failed to retain his crown. Finishing as a runner-up behind the Irish-bred gelding, Denman, who was also trained by Paul Nicholls.
This defeat did not stop the French gelding from bouncing back next season, and he became the first ever runner in history to retain the Gold Cup at Cheltenham. He avenged his loss by defeating stable mate Denman, by a huge margin of 13 lengths.
During the same season, Kauto Star triumphed in his fourth consecutive King George VI Chase, which was also a record, as no one had done this in four straight attempts.
He went onto claim the title once more in 2011, creating history in the sport.
Other than his success in the Gold Cup and the King George VI Chase, the veteran runner scored four victories in the Betfair Chase.
No other National Hunt horse has ever won more prize money than Kauto Star, which proves that he is one of the best in the business and there will probably be no one to match him for a very long time.
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