Kauto Connections To Wait Until Summer for Retirement Decision
- By A.J. Ryder on March 20, 2012 16:57 GMT
The latest news from Ditcheat has confirmed, well, very little as Paul Nicholls declared that talk of Kauto Star's retirement was “very premature”. Having been pulled up relatively early in the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup after taking a substantial amount of money and being sent off as the clear second favourite, many had simply assumed that his retirement from the game was a foregone conclusion.
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE BET WITH WILLIAM HILL!
Now it appears as though connections will wait until Kauto Star has returned from a lengthy freshening that ends sometime in July.
Speaking in his Betfair column today, Nicholls declared “We just ran out of time with him. But Kauto is 100 per cent and we will canter him away and rough him off for the summer and see where we stand when he comes back in.”
Ruby Walsh did the right thing in pulling up Kauto Star on the day in a moment that really summed up much of the festival for the Nicholls yard. Compared to the smashing performance from Nicky Henderson, Nicholls yard came up short of their usual high expectations.
Rock On Ruby and Big Buck's did manage to win championship races but the rest of their usual high-profile runners were short of form, with Nicholls pointing to a cough that swept through the yard in the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival.
Should Kauto Star remain in training heading into his thirteenth year, he would likely pursue the same route as this year with a run in the Betfair Chase and the King George although it is more than likely that his was his last Gold Cup.
There are no odds being floated for Kauto Star in the next iteration of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Sir Des Champs is the current ante post favourite at 5/1.
