posted Mar 17, 2007

Yes, understand your point, but please stop talking in 'text-speak'. There's no limit to how much you can write in these comments, so please try and make some sense to the majority (yes, i am an old fuddy-duddy, but that message took me a long time to decipher!).

Kauto Star is an absolutely exceptional horse and, although nowhere near his achievements, is a far superior horse than Best Mate ever was in my opinion. If you made a hybrid of a horse with Kato Star's raw talent and Desert Orchid's heart, the horse would be indestructible!

Jumping mistakes aside, it's very hard to see Kauto being beaten for te next few years, Denman and My Way de Solzen included

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posted Mar 17, 2007

Aerocave, the top-class horses are the ones who have the stomach for a fight (like Kauto when seriously challenged by L'Ami) and also the ones who despatch the opposition with the minimum of fuss. Anyone who witnessed the brilliant Istabraq win English and Irish Champion hurdles will tell you that when challenged, he was as good a fighter as any horse, however, I saw him win at least two CH's at Cheltenham on the bridle. That was how good he was and the point I think many are trying to make is that the time for all the doom merchants of the horse, the "he won't stay", "he'll fall like he did in the Queen
Mother Chase in 2006" or all the other criticisms levelled at the horse should stop. He is a Champion, end of story.

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posted Mar 17, 2007

Totally agree with Cetshwayo - I for one have not backed the horse to win this season and was looking for him to get beat, but he never - far from it he won well. Best Mate according to figures was only a better than an average horse, not a great. In the seasons he won the GC raced infrequently and mostly over 3m (got beat in 2.4m H'cap by Wahiba Sands) - you can only be rated on what you have beat.
I believe KS has achieved much more than BM this season. No horse since Dessie has won a G1 over 2m - 3m & 3m 2f in there career since Dessie.
This horse KS is rated higher than BM and IMO rightly so as rating are based on actual form - not how good potentially any horse is.
BM form does not match up to KS form, even if KS best rating is over a different trip. Uoy Por - winning the CC this week, yet KS destoryed him in the Tingle creek.
Arkle was a different beast as in those days Top class horses had to run in H'Cap's as there were differnt races in that era - more H'Caps - Less "Trial Races". Richard Dunwoody stated today in his column that "trials" are weak races as horses "duck" these clashes and are found out in the big races.
Kauto Star is IMO definetely the best since dessie as any trip or going seems the same to him.
This is what makes great horses - any trip or ground. The only thing KS hasn't accomplished is winning several major handicaps like Arkle.
The truth of the matter is - he probably won't run in any handicap's as there are so many other races for horses of his rating in the calender under the current rules.
The best Races run (ratings wise in the last 15 years) has been Carvills hill in the Welsh GN in 1991 (I think)and Well Chief in the Victor Chandler in 2004 (I think), and neither has won a Championship race at the festival.

When it comes to rating the best horses - the big festivals are not the be all and end all.
Look at Nortons Coin or Wayward lad, both at different ends of the scale - one "poor" winner and one "top class" loser of the GC.

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posted Mar 17, 2007

Kauto has done nothing wrong all year at whatever distance hes run- odd slight jumping error excepted

Unfortunately this years GC was not great in terms of opposition and i dont think the RP could have marked him higher unless it was a stronger field

media hype makes out that horses are superstars just on one gold cup win- they were doing it on tuesday after Sublimity won the CH and its the same every year- easy copy-

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posted Mar 17, 2007

Therile

What a good post, think you summed it all up really, to be honest i dont really relish the thought of KS lumping huge weights around in handicaps, horses are not made the same as they were in Arkles day,or even when Dessie was around, so much more flat blood in them that they are not in the same mould any more. I just dont think this horse needs to carry huge lumps around in handicaps just to prove a point, to the doubters and disbelievers on how good he is, why should he!!??

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posted Mar 18, 2007

Therile,

Good post and absolutely agree. You are right, Championship races aren't the be-all-and-all (Call Equiname never set the Jump World alight yet managed to win a Queen Mother, oh yes, then there's Norton's Coin and who did he beat in the GC??). As you correctly stated, BM lost to Wahiba Sands at Ascot over 2m4f. I think people got lost in the whole "Matey won three Gold Cups and a King George" thing, but like you have stated, KS destroyed the Queen Mother winner out of site at Sandown and, despite what everyone is going to say (probably get told off for this), the second best chaser this season. How many GC's have finished with the best and second best chasers FINISHING first and second? Like I said in a previous post, there are horses out there with better form figures than Exotic who never ran on Thursday (i.e. Kicking King and War of Attrition), but let's hope they come back and race against the new Star!

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posted Mar 18, 2007

Just to follow on from a few posts here so perspective can be gained -

When Wahiba Sands beat Best Mate at Ascot he did so getting 2 stone in weight.

When KS beat VPU at Sandown the 2nd was not fully primed for his first run of the year (as admitted at the time by the trainer, cos it was such a weak renewal (prior to KS being a late entry)) and this was KS third run of the campaign.

I will say that I would have preferred a win from Exotic Dancer, but was not disappointed in KS winning, but AP managed to find trouble into the home straight just when he was actually running faster than KS who was sent round the outside rather than into the traffic jam up the inside that AP got into.

So, for me, Ruby won the race through better tactics and I would rate both KS and ED to within a lb of each other over C&D.

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posted Mar 18, 2007

jrparky,

Are you seriously suggesting that KS only won because Ruby employed better tactics? What was the reason at Sandown for the king George? How do you come to the assumption that at Cheltenham, KS is a length better that ED? I'm not being rude, just wanted to know, as the Racing Post spoke to Jonjo O'Neil said in the Post on Saturday "Our horse ran a blinder and you couldn't be disappointed with that as the best horse has won. Kauto Star was always going well and I could see that the only way we were going to beat him was if a mistake stopped him in his tracks. We weren't going to get past him - but I'll take second-best chaser in Britain today". Mr O'Neil is one the most honest and outspoken trainers in this country and he never mentioned tactics once.

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posted Mar 18, 2007

trabolgan, war of attrition and kicking king. They are the three that would give kauto star a good race. I'll settle for just one of these horses staying injury free nest season and arriving at cheltenham fully fit and raring to go. If all 3 were to run it would be a mouth watering line up.

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posted Mar 19, 2007

cetshwayo - I guess that I am suggesting that Exotic could have got closer had AP ridden a better race, whether the horse could have gone past KS is another question but the point I should probably add is that Kauto has proven himself the best (this season) whatever course (and distance), whereas over C&D Exotic Dancer is only a lb behind, in my opinion.

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