Kauto Stone securing the King George VI Chase chances for the Paul Nicholls stable
With the ruling out of the prime Paul Nicholls’ entry for the King George VI Chase at Kempton, Al Ferof, all eyes and hopes are set on the next best candidate, Kauto Stone. Kauto Star’s half-brother is representing the stable now but the decision if he will be ridden by, Jacob Daryl, or not, has not been finalised as yet.
He said: "Nothing has been finalised yet. Mr (Robin) Geffen (owner) and Paul Nicholls still need to sit down and come to a decision. We are just keeping our cards dry at present."
He added: "He's very much on target for the race, though, and has been doing everything nicely since Down Royal, touch wood.”
"Being there will just be a dream, but at this stage that's all it is as this game has a habit of bringing you back down to earth, as we found out on Saturday with Cristal Bonus when he had to be put down.”
"He was just beginning to realise his potential and it's such a shame."
The reason that the previous entry has been withdrawn is due to the an injury that could have resulted fatal in case Al Ferof had not been set for the next season, waving goodbye to this one.
The Paul Nicholls’ trained, Kauto Stone, has won his only seasonal starting in the current season. He won the Grade 1 Jnwine.com Champion Chase on 3rd November, 2012 at Down Royal over three miles.
He defeated the Mouse Morris trained, First Lieutenant, by a length, but the winning jockey picked up a suspension when misinterpreting the finish line during the race.
The jockey has been with the stable since quite a long while now and his abilities cannot be doubted.
With the drop down in the representation in the race that the stable has won with the retired champion, Kauto Star, five times, the pressure is building for selecting just the right team. They are no longer in a position to endanger the chances of Kauto Stone by picking out the wrong rider.
He will need to take down the Nicky Henderson trained, Long Run, and will also need to compete against, Grand Crus, sent in by trainer, David Pipe.
Tags: