Today's piece is not a reflection on this last year, but on the career of a legend and his association with the festive season. Kauto Star was a true legend and many people are sure to be thinking of him come Boxing Day. Hope you enjoy it, and stay tuned for further updates in the next few days.
Kauto Star - The King of Kempton by Niamh Townsend
Christmas is just around the corner, and you know what that means – Boxing Day is hot on its heels, towing the King George VI Chase and Kempton's feature meeting of the year along with it. When people think of Kempton Park there is one horse that goes hand in hand with the outer-London racecourse; that horse is a star, Kauto Star.
There is only one Kauto Star, the horse who many considered to be the best since the legendary Arkle. However for those born after the time of Arkle, myself included, Kauto Star epitomises the word 'superstar' – standing on his own as the best many of us have seen. The Nativity Story told of Three Wise Men being drawn to Bethlehem to visit the baby Jesus by a bright, shining star: The Christmas Star. Between 2006 and 2011 we of the modern era had our very own Christmas Star to draw us towards the festive season and the fantastic racing action that comes around with it. Our three wise men were Paul Nicholls, Ruby Walsh and Clive Smith. Our Christmas Star was Kauto Star.
Kauto had a knack for capturing the admiration of his millions of fans and coming back time and time again after setbacks and errors that would have led others to give up. Whether it was his signature final fence blunders, his loss of his Gold Cup title in 2008, or coming back from multiple defeats at the hands of younger horses to resurrect the old Kauto and come back for two more successes aged 11 before his inevitable retirement. That was the thing about Kauto Star, he just didn't know how to give up.
The first of his King George crowns came in December 2006. After having already won two grade 1s in the early stages of the season, the Betfair Chase and the Tingle Creek as well as the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, Kauto Star was sent off the 8/13 favourite and won by 8 lengths from Exotic Dancer, despite showing his quirkiness off to the onlookers by hitting the final fence. His victory sparked a love affair with the Kempton showpiece that would stand with him for the remainder of his illustrious career.
Upon his return to Kempton in 2007, Kauto Star had won the Aon Chase, a second Betfair Chase and most famously he had triumphed in the Cheltenham Gold Cup for the first time at the Festival in March. Just the one win at the Cheltenham Festival would not be enough for our Kauto though, but I'll get to that later. This time around, he won his second King George by 11 lengths from Our Vic who was no match for the champion – Kauto Star was perfectly set up to take on his stablemate Denman when he returned to Cheltenham to try and retain his crown in the Gold Cup.
Unfortunately, consecutive Gold Cup victories were not to be for Kauto Star as he was overhauled by the brilliant Denman at Cheltenham in March. A defeat by Our Vic followed at Aintree as well as a fall in the 2008 Betfair Chase, in fact his only victory since the Ascot Chase in February was the JNWine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal in November. He came to Kempton out to prove that he was still the force of old and capable of doing the business on the big stage despite his rising number of defeats. The opposition included Voy Por Ustedes (a previous Champion Chase winner), Our Vic and Imperial Commander who would win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2010. A synonymous last fence blunder proved to be a minor annoyance to Kauto Star as he powered away from the remainder of the field to win by 8 lengths, joining Wayward Lad and Desert Orchid as the only horses to win the King George more than twice.
Rested until March, Kauto Star then entered the record books as the only horse ever to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup etching his name into folklore after thrashing Denman by 13 lengths and earning the highest rating for a horse that season. Another attempt at history came the following December when Kauto Star was asked to become the first horse to win his beloved King George VI for a fourth year in a row – Desert Orchid had won four, but his clean sweep had been prevented by the French-trained Nupsala. This problem proved non-existent for Kauto Star though as he swept clear with three fences left to jump and won by a staggering 36 lengths, not only beating the record of the most consecutive wins in the race but also the widest winning margin, beating the record previously held by the great Arkle who had won his King George by 30 lengths. This performance led to the Racing Post awarding him a rating of 192 – the highest ever awarded to a steeplechaser.
Following the pinnacle came turmoil, as Kauto's career began to quickly tumble downhill as age looked to be catching up with him and younger horses took centre stage. First there was Imperial Commander winning the Gold Cup, and although there was a glimmer of the old Kauto in his seasonal return when winning the JNWine.com Champion Chase for a second time, he was defeated yet again in both that season's King George VI Chase and the Gold Cup by Long Run who was five years younger than the now eleven year old Kauto Star. That season saw his first defeat in the King George, and many saw this as a sign for him to be retired with the argument that he had nothing left to prove. However, Paul Nicholls dismissed these ideas, even after he was pulled up for the first time in his career in the Punchestown Gold Cup, it was not yet time for Kauto to be released into retirement – his journey wasn't finished.
This proved a very wise decision by the Ditcheat-based champion trainer as in one of the finest training performances in recent years, Paul Nicholls brought Kauto Star back to somewhere near his best to win the Betfair Chase on his seasonal reappearance as an eleven year old – placing him in the perfect position to chase a record-breaking fifth win in the King George.
December 26th 2011. When it mattered most of all, Kauto Star was about to rewrite history – again. He jumped like a gazelle, rolled back the years and despite being joined by Long Run in the straight was able to show his typical battling qualities the racing world had become so used to seeing and brought Kempton to its feet as he flew home to a famous victory, beating Long Run by 1 ¼ lengths. After the race, his owner Clive Smith said, "He's amazing, I'll never have another one like him."
That final effort proved to be the last race that Kauto Star would finish as he was ultimately pulled up in his sixth attempt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup before moving on into his well-earned retirement.
He sadly no longer walks this earth with us, however Kauto Star has ascended to be where he has rightly earned his place, among the stars. Although he is unable to tackle his favourite fences around Kempton any more, Kauto's King George crown still sits firmly on top of his head. No matter what has happened since the great horse departed our racecourses or what is still to come in the future of the King George VI Chase, one thing is for sure: King Kauto will reign over Kempton forevermore.
Image from Timeform
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