Kauto Star: 'He's the best I've trained without a shadow of a doubt'

Fans' Favourites is a weekly feature in the Racing Post Weekender in which we talk to those closest to racing's most popular horses and find out why they tug on our heartstrings. This week's subject: Kauto Star

No-one, especially champion trainer Paul Nicholls, likes to compare the greatest jumps horses of all time. But when a horse like Kauto Star comes along you can't help yourself.

His astounding record includes 16 Grade 1 victories and more than £2 million in prize-money, and he remains the only horse to score top-level victories for seven consecutive seasons. Yet those remarkable figures only scratch the surface of his illustrious career.

"Kauto was the best of his generation," Nicholls says. "He was a special horse and a star for British racing. I don't think it's really possible to draw comparisons between different eras but for his generation he was the greatest there was. End of story."

Kauto Star's reputation preceded him before he even set foot in Britain. Four impressive wins in France left trainer Serge Foucher dubbing the four-year-old as 'L'Extraterrestre' – The Extraterrestrial – and he was sold to Nicholls for owner Clive Smith ahead of the 2004-2005 jumps season.

What arrived was not extraterrestrial but rather down to earth, a slightly scruffy gelding who at first glance failed to impress head lad Clifford Baker.

Kauto Star: came into his own during his first summer at DitcheatCredit: Edward Whitaker

"When he turned up he looked pretty awful," Baker recalls. "He had a short tail, I think it had been chewed, a long mane and just looked poor. The travelling hadn't helped but he'd had a hard year in France too."

Rejuvenated over the summer, Kauto Star began his British career over fences and lived up to his promise with a nine-length romp on his debut at Newbury under Nicholls' retained rider Ruby Walsh.

Nicholls says: "From the day we started work with him we knew he had loads of class. His first run was a novice chase and I remember saying to Ruby: 'I've got one for you, make sure you're in England.' After he won, the smile on Ruby's face said it all."

His campaign came to an abrupt end next time out at Exeter, when denied by a short head despite falling two out and being remounted by Walsh. The remarkable recovery promoted Kauto Star to ante-post favourite for the Arkle but also led to a fractured hock, which kept him out for nine months.

"I started riding him in the following season," Baker says. "He was always sharp, he never did anything slow, and hated traffic. He couldn't handle anything bigger than a car, but the second he stepped foot on the grass he was a complete professional. It's like he just knew what he had to do. The first time I went up the gallop on him, I just thought: 'Wow, this has definitely got an engine'."

Kauto Star's speed was on display for all to see as a five-year-old when he clinched his first Grade 1 success in the 2005 Tingle Creek. Again he was cut in price for Cheltenham but festival glory remained elusive after he crashed out early in the Champion Chase.

Yet disappointment would turn out to be short-lived. A return to action in October as a six-year-old signalled the start of what would turn out to be one of the most impressive chasing seasons seen this century.

The Old Roan, Betfair Chase, Tingle Creek, the King George, what is now the Denman Chase and Cheltenham Gold Cup glory. All rattled off in deadly fashion by the striking bay, whose infamous last-fence missteps were the only wobbles in what was otherwise an exceptional campaign.

Kauto Star could cause fans a moment of worry at the final fenceCredit: Mark Cranham

"We always said he was a two-miler who stayed three and a quarter miles. We started off in the Old Roan and that was the first time I thought 'wow' – he just bolted up," says Nicholls.

"He was brilliant over those shorter trips, so the weekend before the Tingle Creek I rang up Ruby and said we should give it a go. He thought I was stupid, told me it was a terrible idea, and then two minutes later phoned me back and said: 'Feck it, we might all be dead next year, let's run him.'

"It was an amazing season. He was just class to be able to run so easily over those different trips. He could travel and jump and stay; he could do it all."

Multiple Grade 1 winner Beef Or Salmon was 17 lengths behind in the Betfair Chase, while his Tingle Creek victory saw him defeat subsequent Champion Chase winner Voy Por Ustedes by seven lengths.

Just over three weeks later he widened the winning margin another length at Kempton, this time over Exotic Dancer, despite stepping up more than a mile in trip. Nothing could get close to him.

"It was the season we learned how special he really was," says Baker. "We all knew it, especially after the Gold Cup. He found it easy. No horse would even attempt to do what he did now.

"He was the best over two miles, two and a half miles and three miles all at the same time. He could have won anything that season.

"On our press day before the Gold Cup about 120 members of the media showed up and I've never seen that amount of pictures taken of one horse, from the second they walked into the yard. It was phenomenal."

Luckily, Kauto Star was happy to soak up the attention. His head was always looking out of box one at Ditcheat as the list of accolades slowly grew in plaques on the stable door. Baker made sure to bring visitors – of which there were many – to take photos with their flagship runner, while cards and letters flowed into the yard.

Kauto Star's friendly attitude was in stark contrast to Nicholls' newest rising star Denman, who claimed the festival's three-mile novice chase just two days before Kauto Star's breakthrough Gold Cup.

Kauto Star (right) and Denman, pictured together in 2010Credit: Edward Whitaker

Denman was quick to make his mark and delivered an unbeaten campaign of his own the following season, culminating in victory in the 2008 Gold Cup. Kauto Star, who had landed his second Betfair Chase and King George, could finish only second, but the rivalry was far from over.

"It was night and day between the two of them," Nicholls says. "Denman could take your arm off but Kauto was always your mate. He was a tough, kind horse, but having both of them at that level was a lot of pressure."

The pair met again in the Gold Cup 12 months later and this time Kauto Star was not for catching. A third King George was already secured and unlike the previous year there was no chink in the armour of the now 11-time Grade 1 star.

Walsh eased Kauto Star into the lead after the third-last and was powered up the hill by the roar of the Cheltenham crowd, scoring a 13-length victory over Denman – the biggest winning margin in the Gold Cup in 14 years. It netted him his highest RPR to date of 185 and led home a 1-2-4-5 for Nicholls in the race.

Baker raced up the track to meet Kauto Star, the first horse to regain the Gold Cup.

"That was probably his biggest achievement," he says. "He's still the only one to have done it and it was incredible. He'd had his issues the year before but it was his day and nothing was going to stop him. It was always meant to be."

While Kauto Star's Cheltenham heroics are etched in the record books, it was at Kempton where he ruled supreme. He went out to equal Desert Orchid's record of four King George wins in 2009 and delivered emphatically with the highest-rated success of his career, rising to an RPR of 191.

With a foot-perfect round of jumping and a deadly ability to shift through gears, Kauto Star ensured Walsh had to move only after the second-last, an effort that did nothing more than extend an already sealed victory.

Kauto Star: becomes the first horse to regain the Gold Cup in 2009Credit: Edward Whitaker

The winning margin was 36 lengths, destroying a record that seemed insurmountable when set 44 years earlier by Arkle. Walsh, who had been quietly confident before the race, seemed as amazed as everyone else. "To be on his back is a privilege," he said.

The 2010 Gold Cup was touted as a rematch between Kauto Star and Denman but went instead to Imperial Commander. While Denman stuck on for second, Kauto Star never seemed content and crashed out dramatically at the fourth-last fence.

Then something went wrong.

"He just lost his way a little bit the next season, I'm not sure why," Nicholls says. "We had him ready for the King George, which was run in January that season, and he just went off. He was coughing and wasn't right."

The Nicky Henderson-trained Long Run stormed to a wide-margin victory at Kempton. Kauto Star was third, the first time he had finished outside the top two in Britain.

He was beaten again in the Gold Cup before he was pulled him up on his first and only trip to Punchestown, a downbeat end to what had been hoped would be another history-making season.

For one who had for so long dominated the winner's enclosure, Kauto Star's three below-par runs seemed to spell the end of what had been a golden era at Ditcheat. Calls for his retirement began.

"I kept saying to Clifford that my neck was on the line when we brought him back for Haydock the following season," Nicholls says. "He'd been beaten at Cheltenham and pulled up last time out and I didn't know why he wasn't quite right. My head was on the chopping block. If anything had happened to him, being the horse he was, it would have been down to me."

It was a brave call to bring Kauto Star back for another season but connections were determined their runner was far from finished. He returned to the Betfair Chase in the hunt for a record-breaking fourth success, "ready to run for his life", according to Nicholls.

He was sent off at 6-1, the biggest price of all his starts in Britain. The air of uncertainty around his ability lingered, bolstered by the reappearance of Long Run, but enthusiasm was far from stifled. Kauto Star badges, hats and scarves decorated racegoers en masse, all there to see if the chasing great had one last showstopping performance to give.

He did. Kauto Star took up the running and drove his rivals into the ground. They rounded the home bend tired, but Walsh kept his mount on the bridle and despite Long Run's rallying efforts, Kauto Star's decisive jumping pulled him clear to a thunderous reception.

Crowds swarm to celebrate Kauto Star's fourh Betfair Chase successCredit: Edward Whitaker

There was relief and delight in equal measure as he was paraded back into the winner's enclosure. Throngs of well-wishers piled against the rails to welcome the four-time Betfair Chase winner and cheers rang out across the track.

Nicholls says: "It was one of the best receptions I've ever seen. It was unbelievable. They were clapping him before he even went out, all round the paddock, that was the kind of following he had. He deserved every bit of it too. He's the best I've trained without a shadow of a doubt."

The comeback was achieved, and Nicholls was already thinking ahead. Could there be one more record left to claim?

A week away from turning 12, Kauto Star set off for glory in his sixth King George and a final chance to make history. Again and again, his flawless jumping shone through, taking lengths out of his rivals and promoting him to first with ten fences still to go. As the pace quickened, it was Long Run who was first off the bridle, the atmosphere simmering with excitement as Walsh remained motionless on the four-time winner.

The crowd were cheering Kauto Star home long before the final turn but the volume grew as each stride brought him closer towards the finish. Long Run rallied gamely towards the last, but while the final fence had been a worry in the past for Kauto Star, this time it was a saving grace. A bold leap saw him clear of his foe and he stayed on stoutly to claim his final success in a crescendo of emotion and joy.

Walsh leaned down to hug his mount, a quiet moment between jockey and horse, before setting off to parade past the stands. Kauto Star reaped the adoration he so rightly deserved.

Kauto Star: sets a new record with a fifth victory in the King GeorgeCredit: Edward Whitaker

For Nicholls, it was the chaser's greatest performance of all.

"I'll never forget it," he says. "It was one of the best days of racing I've ever had and it's not going to happen again in our lifetime. Everyone was going absolutely wild.

"He did so much good for racing, he really was the people's horse. They turned out in their thousands for him and Kempton was special."

A final bid for the Gold Cup was hampered by a bad schooling fall the following February, putting the the dual winner's participation in doubt. He recovered in time but was pulled up before the tenth fence. On what was to be his final start, he was applauded all the way home.

Nicholls recalls: "He was working brilliantly and I think he probably could have won as he was in the form of his life, but then came the awful fall in the school and really that was the end of it. He turned a somersault. I sometimes wonder how differently it could have gone if that hadn't happened."

The decision was made to retire Kauto Star in October 2012. In 31 starts in Britain, he never finished a race outside the top three. With a £1 million bonus from his sensational 2006-2007 winning streak, he ended with £3,775,883 in earnings and King George, Betfair Chase and Gold Cup records that still stand.

He left Ditcheat at the end of that year to join British eventer Laura Collett, who would retrain him in dressage. It marked a bitter end to what had been a fruitful partnership between Nicholls and Smith as the pair clashed publicly over Kauto Star's retirement plans.

"Everyone was upset when he left and it was a shame it all ended as it did because he'd been such a wonderful horse," Nicholls says. "That's life – we can just look back and remember. The plaques are all still on the door and I have a statue of him. He was the horse of a lifetime."

A statue of Kauto Star situated in Paul Nicholls' garden at DitcheatCredit: Paul Nicholls

Kauto Star died after a field accident in June 2015. Lauded every time he visited the racecourse, the record-setting gelding crafted a legacy that set the modern benchmark for chasing greats. His tenacity, longevity and sheer brilliance on the track are yet to be matched.

"He'll always be remembered," Baker says. "It's difficult to debate over who was the best of all time, but he deserves to be said in the same breath as Arkle.

"I felt lucky to be around him. I used to walk into the yard at five o'clock each morning and he'd be the first horse I'd see. Knowing him was magical and I'll never forget him."

Read more Fans' Favourites . . .

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Bristol De Mai: 'He always turns up and gives it his all as he wants to win'

Defi Du Seuil: 'I'll remember him for his toughness - he was a special horse'

Sire De Grugy: 'The whole racing world acknowledged us – it was special'

Tonto's Spirit: how beetroot juice helped turn a £700 cast-off into a course legend

Tiger Roll: 'He was a blue-collar horse who gatecrashed the biggest parties'

Monet's Garden: 'There's only one thing you'll see of him – his backend!'

Desert Orchid: 'People thought it was an act of lunacy to run over three miles'

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