After a disappointing series of losses in recent months, including his bad run in the King George VI chase at Kempton this Saturday, the once legendary Kauto Star has been given a new rating of 174 by the official handicapper. The fine horse only came third at Kempton and at the second last he even almost fell. This has meant that Phil Smith, the head of handicapping at BHA, has had to face up and admit that Kauto Star hasn’t had a good win in over a year since his 2009 win at the king George and is simply not at the standard he used to be.
Odds on Kauto Star winning at the Cheltenham Festival have now gone out to 10/1 on Paddy Power and Victor Chandler, whilst others have picked up on a fun jape here by putting Kauto on Betfair. On this site over £17,000 has been put on Kauto Star winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup with odds of 9/1 to 11/1.
People can now bet 9/1 on Kauto Star on Betfair and discuss his past history on the site with other fans including back when he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2007 and 2009. His owner, Clive Smith, is insistent that Kauto has it in him still and says that it was the fault of the jockey that the race went bad and he is confident that when Ruby Walsh is back riding him he’ll be back on form with die-hard fans of the racer inclined to agree.
