Five time King George hero Kauto Star retired

Colonel Sanders

RP have this up

Posting from my phone so can't link articles

akelly02

Greatest chaser ive ever seen. Hair stands on the back of the neck anytime i watch him. Im 22 so dont want anyone throwing Arkle at me.

Slattsy

He didn't have a patch on Arkle.

akelly02

Thanks Slattsy

Nulty

Don't forget his JNWine win in 2010!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc8o2cymXVM

Lapin

Here's that link OP.

Best of luck to Kauto and connections. You owe this punter nothing !

RichieLawlor

Kauto would have beaten Arkle.

Nulty

RichieLawlor wrote: »

Kauto would have beaten Arkle.

Not in an "Arkle look-a-like contest" or in a match handicap at their highest marks.

Nulty

Just realised, if you want your horse to be counted as perhaps the best of all time, put a K in its name. Frankel, Kauto, Arkle.

Harry Angstrom

They should've brought him back for the King George. I reckon Paul Nicholls would've been up for it.

akelly02

arkle was rated 212 by timeform who later admitted on reflection could have been too high.

Kauto Star rated 191 at his best.

So arkle would give Kauto over 20 Lbs and a beating

i very much doubt that

Slattsy

akelly02 wrote: »

arkle was rated 212 by timeform who later admitted on reflection could have been too high.

Kauto Star rated 191 at his best.

So arkle would give Kauto over 20 Lbs and a beating

i very much doubt that

Arkle beat some of the best horses ever. Quite easily.
Kauto didn't best any superstars. In my eyes anyway.

Harry Angstrom

akelly02 wrote: »

arkle was rated 212 by timeform who later admitted on reflection could have been too high.

Kauto Star rated 191 at his best.

So arkle would give Kauto over 20 Lbs and a beating

i very much doubt that

Comparisons are pointless. Arkle was around at a time when connections had no option but to regularly run him in handicaps giving lumps of weight away. Thankfully Kauto never had to do this because there are a lot more pattern-type NH races these days. Arkle was probably the greatest horse of any era. Kauto is probably the greatest horse of the modern era since we've had structured graded races. Comparing the two is like comparing chalk and cheese.

Overthelast

I fear a ratings debate:eek: - which cannot be won - but bring it on!!

I was too young to witness "Himself" , but have read a little bit about him.

I understand they had to frame a special handicap system, to give others a chance when racing against Arkle. Not sure they had to do that for any horse since then?. Its impossible to figure who was the best, unless we drag arkle & a few others from the museum, dress their rattling bones with flesh & muscle & have a show down over 3miles at a neutral venue - perhaps the best of 3 races gets to claim the title of "The Best Ever"?!!

What stood out for me is he came back year after year, so not alone had he great ability, he was robust enough to withstand season after season of national hunt racing. Too often, really good ones get cut in their prime, and we're left wondering did they reach their peak. Not KS. He bagged pretty much every top race that was on offer.

Hats off to him & happy retirement!:)

mdwexford

So tempted to get into the unwinnable who was better debate but I wont bother.

Today is about Kauto, the greatest horse I have seen and more than likely ever will see.

klairondavis

Kauto Star was a great horse and he produced it consistently over a long period of time.

However, he was not in the same bracket as Arkle but what horse has been over the last forty or so years?

Slattsy

If Frankel could only jump a fence....

the groutch

Golden Miller would have beaten both Arkle & Kauto

Nulty

akelly02 wrote: »

arkle was rated 212 by timeform who later admitted on reflection could have been too high.

Kauto Star rated 191 at his best.

So arkle would give Kauto over 20 Lbs and a beating

i very much doubt that

Oh yeah...haha

Maybe not. I still think Arkle was a better horse. Or the horses he was racing against were dire - and we know they weren't.

HigginsJ

In his younger days I thought he was very overrated and laughed when he fell in the Champion Chase. I sorta changed my opinion over time.

The best chaser I have ever seen and no horse could possibly cope with him around Kempton on boxing day. Cheltenham did not suit and it speaks of his ability to dig deep that he won 2 Gold Cup's.

akelly02

i just hope we dont have to wait too long for another chasing superstar

Morgans

Kauto an astonishly great horse. I think his first Betfair was the best performance of him. Close to unbeatable that day.

People are very quick to forget Desert Orchid. It would be a brave bookie to go anything bigger than 6/4 about him in a match wtih Kauto in a King George.

The argument that Kauto Star is better than Arkle is very hard to back up. And it wasnt Timeform who said that his rating was too high, it was the official handicapper who thought it was too high. He said he was going to go back and try to get a definitive rating (from his perspective) but didn't.

What is clear is that the runner-up (beaten a neck) in the gold cup of 67 beat Arkle in the Hennessey by a 1l, getting 35lbs. What A Myth was third in the Hennessy and won the 69 Gold Cup.

I've often wondered could a similar claim be made by Kauto Star giving 35lbs to something like The Giant Bolster or Sir Rembrandt, a horse who ran above himself in the Gold Cup, to over exagerrate the rating. Maybe it was a poor Gold Cup.

Stalbridge Colonist lost the 68 Hennessy by a hd to Rondetto, giving him 20lbs. Rondetto was seen as a very good stayer back in those days. May have been favourite for a couple of nationals IIRC.

I think people need to have more evidence that I dont believe any horse could give Kauto Star 20lbs.

saiint

had 100 quid on him in his last race at 9/2

even though he pulled up early i wasnt angry over i lost 100 quid because hes givin me so much from all his previous wins
loved that horse
deserves a happy retirement
only wish i was actually at the tracks when he was racing would of being something else to see

hucklebuck

My favourite Kauto race was last years King George, I always wanted to see him run up with the pace and he pinged every fence and put Henderson and Long Run in their boxes.

On Arkle, this is just amazing, sure Mill House had declined but he won the Gold Cup less than two years earlier and Arkle went by him on the steel like Mill House was a rocking horse.

Arkle was a machine in his last race in the King George he was only beaten about a length conceding stones after slowing to a walk 100 yards from the line. Taaffe was concerned by Arkle hanging from early in the race and it turned out he had broken a pedal bone after banging a fence and he ran and jumped the guts of three miles and only just fell short. He was so bad after the race he was stabled in Kempton Racecourse for two months after while getting treatment.

As for a handicap match people fell Arkle should have to race Kauto in a handicap but scoff when you scrutinise Kauto giving weight when he won one race out of three.

One thing is for sure Kauto has been brilliant for National Hunt racing and is one hell of a horse and it will be tough to find one as good in my lifetime. Pity they have sent Denman off hunting, the pair of them should be turned out in the same field to talk about the great days they have enjoyed. I remember reading Nicholls saying when Denman was having his heart procedure Kauto kept looking into his stable to see where his pal was.

Lennonist

Don't back horses as much as I used to, Kauto Star was the last horse that I followed and backed regularly. In his early days his jumping wasn't great but he was so strong it didn't seem to matter. In his first Gold Cup win he literally walked through the last fence.

meriwether

I have no idea how good Arkle was, so Im not going to comment on that particular comparison.

In relation to Kauto, he had two primary attributes - versatility, and guts. He won a Tingle over 2m doing handstands, and two gold cups over 3m2f. Thats sheer, utter class.

His 2 gold cups showed his guts - I don't believe 3m2f at Cheltenham was his trip, or his course. But he battled on. Even his second place to Denman showed massive guts - he was beaten by the pace, hit many fences, could have put up the white flag, but battled on for second.

I believe Denman was the bettter horse over the Gold cup - and this is the premier race for these horses - but KS was better everywhere else over any other distance.