A Record-Breaking Horse — beragampengetahuan – Beragampengetahuan

Kauto Relka, Kauto Star’s Dam, was an unraced filly but was the daughter of Port Etienne I who sired the likes of Grade 1 winner Barton trained by Tim Easterby, and useful jumps horses such as Prince Popof (France), Kadastrof and Ivoire De Beaulieu.

Despite never running herself and only being Dam to seven horses, she was the Dam of Kauto Stone, Kauto Star’s half-brother, a Grade 1 winner, also trained by Paul Nicholls.

Compared to great flat horses like Frankel, Kauto Star was nowhere near as illustrious in terms of history or statistics. However, he did his talking on the track where it mattered most – and boy was he impressive!

Kauto Star’s Record (Since Joining Paul Nicholls)

It’s fair to say Kauto Star boasts a very impressive record, including:

• 16 grade 1 wins (two in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and five in the King George)

• Four-time Betfair Chase winner

• From 31 attempts in the UK/IRE, he won 19 times, placing seven times and DNF in five

This means the only time he finished out of the top 3 in any races in the UK/IRE was when he failed to complete!

Continuing from his novice days right through to the end, Kauto won over numerous distances, varying from 2m right up to 3m 2.5f.

He excelled on Good to Soft/Soft going (hence never running on anything firmer than Good) but did also win three races on Good going during his illustrious career.

His favourite track, it seems, was Kempton. This is where he won his five King George VI Chases, and he boasts a record of five wins and a third from six runs.

Other than Ruby Walsh, the only jockeys to win aboard Kauto were Mick Fitzgerald when he piloted him in the 2005 Tingle Creek Trophy Chase, and Sam Thomas, when winning the 2007 Betfair Chase at Haydock.

Kauto and Ruby have to be up there as one of the best jockey-horse combinations of all-time!

Kauto Star’s Most Impressive Wins

Kauto Star produced some of the most scintillating performances in National Hunt history during his career, so it’s difficult to pick only a couple of his standout performances.

For me, his 2009 Gold Cup and 2009 King George performances sit a fraction above the rest.

Cheltenham Gold Cup (2007)

Kauto Star won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2007 but had his title taken away by arch-rival Denman a year later. In 2009 they were back, and Kauto was out for revenge.

Piloted again by Ruby Walsh, the race followed a similar pattern; the two horses raced pretty much together, matching strides approaching the business end of the race.

Kauto’s jumping this time, though, was considerably better than the previous year, which showed by what he had left in the tank.