Everyone loves a comeback
Walking into my local bookies before the 2009 Cheltenham Gold Cup I met a man who seemed to chew the Racing Post for breakfast, such was his knowledge of the form of the various horses lining up for the start.
I had won handsomely on Kauto Star in 2007, lost ugly in 2008 when lumping both my communion and confirmation money on a a double success, so was naturally wary of his form heading into that year’s renewal.
However this man told the packed betting shop that ‘Kauto has it lads – that ‘oul Denman was a fluke.’
The proclamation was met with some guffaws as punters placed their money elsewhere, but when Ruby Walsh guided him to a 13-length victory over his great rival and stablemate, the only sound we could hear was the roll of €50 notes being counted out in front of the wise old sage at the counter.
Even though I had backed against the re-crowned champion, I could not help but smile at witnessing history unfold before my eyes, as the horse who swept the Gold Cup in 2007 came back to claim the trophy once again; the only horse ever to do so.
The power of a sportsperson is not measured by creating mass hysteria in those who are in love with that person and follow their every move, but to also breach the consciousness of those who could barely pick their face from a line up.
Horse racing has always been blessed with great riders and trainers who create the colour and the magic that surrounds any race day.
But it takes an animal truly special to capture the imagination in the way that the Paul Nicholls’ mount did, and it is why the racing world mourns his tragic passing today.
Sad news about KAUTO STAR the most complete chaser of the modern-era RIP pic.twitter.com/LpxUd867UV
— AP McCoy (@AP_McCoy) June 30, 2015
The news this morning that the 15-year-old has been put down after a fracture to his pelvis after a fall is so much more than just the usual hazards that pepper the life of horse racing fans.
But in some strange way it is an end that has been foreshadowed throughout his career.
The horse missed what was due to be his first Cheltenham after a heavy fall at Exeter in 2004 when leading by a dozen lengths.
Despite the initial fall at the second last, Ruby Walsh re-mounted and almost won the race only to be stopped by another fall at the last.
However the template was created in how the horse would thrill, exhilarate, devastate and enthrall during his time on the track with his less than perfect style when tackling fences.
His technique may not always have been perfect, and among the worst of his tumbles was during the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2006, but he returned just 12 months later to claim his first ever Gold Cup to silence the critics in style.
Every March his name would pop up during the conversation surrounding Cheltenham, while Ruby Wash was always just half a breath away in every conversation from mentioning the mount he described as the ‘horse of his lifetime’ after Kauto Star’s retirement in 2012.
He was not a winning machine like Frankel, and was probably Tim Sherwood’s favourite horse with his win ratio of slightly better than 2:1 as he claimed 23 wins from 41 starts.
This was not a horse that was going to streak away with a win and have you count your winnings before the off.
Kauto liked to make you sweat for the win, make you work just as hard as horse and rider in securing that victory that you hoped would come in the final devastating five furlongs.
He was a horse with flaws, with faults and that’s why any punter who won big, or small, off the back of his late surge could never be too disheartened when he failed to streak home.
Irish racing fans may suggest that there were better horses and more pure winners and it would be hard to argue against that.
Arkle’s record and class will be forever typed in gold, but for a horse of this generation, very few will touch Kauto Star for affection in the public eye.
Only Best Mate’s death in my mind can come close to such a loss to racing in recent memory.
The fact that one of his greatest rivals was just a few stable doors down helped too.
Every superhero needs his theme music and Paul Nicholls must have had had ‘One Way or Another’ ringing his ears every time he walked the yard with two of the finest horses to choose from in each race.
Sport thrives on rivalry and in Denman and Kauto Star horseracing had its own Nadal-Federer and Messi-Ronaldo.
In a career that glistened with two Gold cups, two Tingle Creeks as well as five King George’s and four Betfair Chases, it was his final time at Prestbury Park that was for me at least, the most emotional day of his career.
Almost like the infamous ‘one last job’ style films, the hope was that in 2012 Kauto Star could pull off one final miracle as his life at the top of the ratings wound down.
But as Ruby pulled up the horse in his fifth and final trip around the course in the blue riband event, the crowd rose to applaud a true champion who powered his way up that hill off the back of sheer power and determination so many times.
The horse has been getting used to the equine version of the after-dinner circuit in recent years as he competed in dressage and his loss as one of the true greats of the last 25 years will be sadly felt.
The greatest tribute you can pay the horse is that every time he lined up in those famous colours you knew you had a chance.
And in racing sometimes that is all you need.
But with Kauto Star you had more than a chance.
You had a champion.
