Kauto Star wins Betfair Chase in photo-finish

Dual Gold Cup winner Kauto Star confirmed his status as the outstanding chaser of his generation when coming out the right side of a very close finish to claim a thrilling Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday.

Having his first outing since making history when regaining his Gold Cup crown at Cheltenham last March, Kauto Star went off a well-backed 4/6 favourite to score for Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh. What looked a competitive contest on paper turned into a match with three fences to jump as last year’s Paddy Power Gold Cup winner, Imperial Commander, who was tackling three miles for the first time, and Kauto Star pulled well clear of the others.
Paddy Brennan was aggressive aboard Imperial Commander as he took the fight to Kauto Star and there was very little to separate the pair until a better jump two out handed Kauto Star a slight advantage.
Imperial Commander was far from done with, however, and answering every call for his jockey he managed one last effort that saw the 9/1 shot and Kauto Star flash past the post locked together. At first glance, it appeared as if Imperial had lowered the colours of the champion but the result of the photo-finish revealed that Kauto Star had clung on to score by a nose.
This was a superb race and one could sense the relief in the Nicholls’ camp when the result was finally called. Kauto Star was always going to be vulnerable first time out and, despite having won this race three times in the past, Haydock has never been his favourite track and particularly so on Saturday’s soft ground.
Kauto Star’s next outing will be in the King George at Kempton over Christmas and it will then be all systems go for another crack at the Totesport Gold Cup at Cheltenham for Clive Smith’s exceptional performer.
Runner-up Imperial Commander lost little in defeat and it will be interesting now to see if he can build on this effort. Any doubts about him getting three miles were firmly put to bed on Saturday and his trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies, who had his charge spot-on for his seasonal reappearance, is already looking forward to a re-match with the reigning champion later in the season.
The big disappointment of Saturday’s race was Irish raider Notre Pere. Jim Dreaper’s mud-lark was never travelling for jockey Andrew Lynch, finishing a well-beaten fifth and last year’s Coral Welsh National winner could well be feeling the effects of his fall five out in the jnwine.com at Down Royal earlier this month.
The Walsh/Nicholls team, who were dealt a blow earlier this week when Champion chaser Master Minded was ruled out of the upcoming Tingle Creek at Sandown due to a problem which saw him hang badly right on his comeback run at Cheltenham, will again be hoping for big-race success next weekend as Denman, who defeated Kauto Star in the 2008 Gold Cup, returns to action when set to shoulder top-weight of 11st 12Ib in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday.
Walsh takes over from Sam Thomas aboard this Paul Barber/Harry Findlay-owned ex-Irish point-to-point winner and the pair will be hard to beat. This is a hot enough handicap, with plenty of good horses lined-up for duty. Barber’s Shop, trained by the in-form Nicky Henderson for the Queen, is one who will push Denman all the way. Former winner State Of Play will also give as good as he gets, while Gone To Lunch and the Nicholls’ second-string My Will are also lively contenders. 2007 Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition, if he came back to his best, would look well in of a nice racing weight of 10st 6ib for trainer Mouse Morris having filled third behind now sidelined The Listener at Down Royal earlier this month.
There will also be much interest in WBX.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday where Charles Byrnes’ recent Punchestown winner Solwhit faces a stiff task.
Byrnes is launching an audacious bid to land the £1 million bonus on offer for any horse who lands this race, the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton and the 2010 Champion Hurdle but Solwhit will have to do it the hard way with Binocular, who finished third to stable companion Punjabi in the Champion Hurdle last March, odds-on to score in this two-mile contest for his owner JP McManus and trainer Nicky Henderson. Other Irish interest here will centre of John Queally’s All Eile, former Champion Hurdle winner Sublimity and either Go Native or Muirhead from the Noel Meade camp.

Exciting fare at Fairyhouse
There is a great card lined up at Fairyhouse on Sunday, where two Grade 1 events over hurdles should sort out the pecking order of some of our top hurdlers.
Unbeaten so far over timber, last season’s Cheltenham Bumper winner Dunguib will face his stiffest test to date in the two-mile Grade Royal Bond Novice Hurdle but Philip Fenton’s stable star can be expected to extend his winning sequence.
Brian O’Connell, who turns professional this weekend, will again do the steering on this imposing son of Presenting and, having scored with ease over hurdles at Galway and Punchestown already this season, the six-year-old, who is currently 5/2 ante-post favourite for the opening Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham next March, should gain further valuable hurdling experience here.
Elsewhere on the card, the two-and-a-half-mile Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle should also be a hugely informative affair. Plenty of good horses are pencilled in here, with Tom Taffee’s Coral Cup winner Ninetieth Minute set to return to action. Aitmatov, Catch Me and Noble Prince are others sure to feature near the head of the market.
The Grade 1 Drinmore Novice Chase sees most of our top novice chasers engaged, with Noel Meade’s exciting recruit Pandorama among those listed for duty. He justified short odds when making a winning bow over the larger obstacles at Punchestown five weeks ago and it will be interesting to see how this Cheltenham prospect fares here against the likes of River Liane and possibly Galway winner Fosters Cross.

Win for ­Tyrone Golden Rain
When Tyrone Golden Rain skated home in a winners’ race at the Roscommon point-to-point three weeks ago, he went into many notebooks as an animal with a very bright future. That impression was confirmed as he again showed his rivals a clean pair of heels to land hotly contested winners of two races at the Dromahane, County Cork meeting on Sunday.
Trained in Tubber by Paurick O’Connor for Craughwell furniture magnate John Curley, Tyrone Golden Rain (4/6F) was ridden by his trainer’s brother Derek O’Connor who sent the son of Rainwatch to the front with three fences to jump.
Despite running around a bit on the uphill climb to the post, Tyrone Golden Rain was full value for his three-length victory over the John Thomas McNamara-ridden runner-up Claras Chestnut. O’Connor went on to complete a riding double when steering the Thomas O’Leary-trained Castleview Mills (1/2F) to a facile success in the closing older horses’ maiden. Content to track the front-running Curragh Boy to the penultimate fence, the six-time champion eased clear from here to beat that rival by six lengths.
This latest brace moves O’Connor onto the 13-winner mark for the season, leaving the 26-year-old nine adrift (22-13) of the pace-setting Jamie Codd in the race for the 2009/10 jockeys’ crown.