TOP 100 SPORT SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Kauto Star can still improve, says Walsh • Winner gets highest steeplechase rating for last 40 years• Trainer Paul Nicholls reports horse in peak form after victoryKauto Star's position as one of the greatest steeplechasers the sport has ever seen was confirmed today when the respected ratings compilers Timeform raised his provisional mark to 191 as a result of his exceptional success in the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day, while Phil Smith, the British Horseracing Authority's official handicapper, went further still with a mark of 195. Ruby Walsh, meanwhile, who has more direct experience of Kauto Star than any handicapper can enjoy, suggested that even Saturday's brilliance may not be a full measure of the chaser's talent."Ratings are only people's opinions," Walsh said at Leopardstown today as he dashed in between rides on a busy afternoon's racing, "but it was an amazing performance, he did it very well and it's great to be riding him."I'm sure he could [get better]. He doesn't seem to be showing any sign of waning, anyway."Walsh's assessment raises the possibility that Kauto Star could yet progress beyond even his new official rating of 195, which is the highest mark allotted to any chaser for at least 40 years, and places him 8lb ahead of Desert Orchid, the only other horse to have won the King George Chase four times."I went back and looked at [King George fourth-placed] Nacarat's run at Aintree when he finished third [in the Melling Chase]," Smith said, "and I felt he ran a similar race to that. He was rated 157 after that, which meant that Barbers Shop ran to 159, and a process of adding got me to 195. It's the biggest rating I've ever given to any horse, but then it was a pretty amazing performance. It was the way he ran away from the field."I thought it was a good field before the race, and though a couple of them didn't perform, Deep Purple and obviously Imperial Commander in particular, and Madison Du Berlais [in second] was probably 7lb or 8lb below his best, Barbers Shop is a fair yardstick."He ran a pretty good race, and he was blown away. To win a King George by 36 lengths is astonishing really."The strong pace set by Nacarat on Saturday was important in terms of Kauto Star's rating, as it stretched the rest of the field and allowed the winner to show the depth of his superiority."Good horses were getting absolutely exhausted, but he wasn't," Smith said. "You've got to have a fast pace to get a rating like that. At his best, [the three-time Gold Cup winner] Best Mate was only rated 175, and I know he was better than that, but because of the way his races were run he never had the opportunity to show that he could perform better than that."Timeform's assessment of Kauto Star is a little more modest, although their revised rating still places him joint third with Mill House in Timeform's all-time list, behind only Arkle (212) and Flyingbolt (210). All three were active in the mid-1960s, at a time before jumpers were subject to a centralised handicapping system.Timeform's assessment suggests that Arkle at his peak could have given Kauto Star 20lb and a beating, something that most of the 22,000 spectators at Kempton on Saturday would find very difficult to believe. While the credibility of the firm's figure for Arkle will remain a subject for debate, however, Kauto Star's status as the best chaser since the mid-1960s seems assured.An official comparison between Kauto Star and Arkle is expected to be published in May, as Smith is currently attempting to place a figure on Arkle's merit using data from the 1960s."The aim is to have it completed for the publication of the official Anglo-Irish jump ratings in May," he said. "I'm going to approach it with an open mind. If that [a rating well above 200] is how it comes out, then that's how it comes out. We will have to wait and see."Paul Nicholls said that Kauto Star had emerged from the King George in excellent form, and he will now begin the build-up to his third, decisive meeting with Denman in the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival on March 19."We just led him out this morning for a pick of grass and he's absolutely right as rain, just fine," Nicholls said. "We won't do anything different now, straight to Cheltenham then next season either to Down Royal or Haydock [in November] and then back to Kempton [for the King George] again."Horse racingKauto StarRuby WalshGreg Woodguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
No. 12 Hokies' second-half surge sinks Vols in Chick-fil-A Bowl Ryan Williams capped a brilliant first season with a record-setting game, running for two touchdowns to power Virginia Tech past Tennessee 37-14 ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
England in safe hands as Matt Prior catches on to modern demands It was a study in dedication. The rest of the England team had long since departed to the malls of Sandton, where they are holed up throughout their stay here, which left “the Bullring” empty save for Matt Prior, who was working furiously on his skills with Bruce French, the former England wicketkeeper. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Hardworking Wayne Rooney keeps United in title hunt THE score tells one story but the game offered a more subtle take on an interesting contest. For more than an hour United’s performance was laborious and the match remained delicately balanced. Most pertinently, the high-tempo and wonderfully fluent Manchester United were nowhere to be seen and a spy from United’s next Champions League opponents, AC Milan, would have enjoyed his day. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Kearney, Peterson, Rahlves named to freestyle team World Cup moguls champion Hannah Kearney and four-time Olympian Daron Rahlves highlight the U.S. freestyle team for the Vancouver Games. rssfeeds.usatoday.com |