Kauto Star Confirmed for King George Bid
- By A.J. Ryder on December 12, 2011 16:06 GMT
After rolling back the years with a scintillating display of jumping, Kauto Star is confirmed to rematch against Long Run in the contest that seemed to be a torch passing last year – the King George. Having conquered the race on a number of occasions, Kauto Star did not look fluent that day last January when they ran in a rescheduled iteration of the race.
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Kauto will have his usual pilot in Ruby Walsh while Daryl Jacob will be handling stablemate Master Minded.
The main danger will be Long Run, who remains listed as the betting choice for this one with a 6/4 ante post price tag against Kauto Star at 4/1. Master Minded trades at a 5/1 margin. Several bookmakers clipped Kauto down from 9/2 after the confirmation that Walsh would be in the irons.
Speaking to the media, Paul Nicholls was bullish on Kauto's form coming out of his last contest at Haydock. “When they're fit and well you've got to take your chance. He recovered really well after Haydock. They'll both run, which is what we want to do.”
Kauto was able to dispose of Long Run by a solid eight length margin on his seasonal debut – reminding everybody that you can't count out Kauto – even at the ripe old age of 11.
An interesting piece of controversy has arisen regarding Long Run's pilot as Sam Waley-Cohen (who won the Gold Cup last year aboard Long Run) has picked up a 12-day ban for taking the wrong course today at Fakenham. He remains eligible to ride Long Run in the King George, however, because he is an amateur jockey.
According to the rules, Waley-Cohen's suspension is only in effect when there are races on offer for amateur jockeys.
