Sportsman Racing: Resurgent Star Too Short For King George

In this regular Monday segment, racing expert Scott Armstrong rounds up all the action of note from this weekend’s racing for SBC Blog readers.

For six minutes on Saturday race-fans were able to forget whip rules, lack of prize money and corruption charges as the imperious Kauto Star warmed the hearts of all who watched him triumph in the Betfair Chase. One of the sport’s greatest ever chasers, Kauto jumped magnificently before kicking for home to readily dismiss the challenges of Diamond Harry, Weird Al and Long Run to triumph by eight-lengths. The National Hunt trainers champion Paul Nicholls simply said “This is my proudest-ever moment”. Kauto Star has been cut to 11-2 from 16-1 for the King George VI Chase. That price is not for me though as it’s hard to see him taking part in five weeks time after such a strenuous effort here and he goes best when fresh. Long Run made a few jumping errors when finishing second, running 12lb below his best but will improve for his seasonal outing. Continue reading