Kauto Star fit and ready for Betfair Chase clash with Long Run

When trainers of exceptional horses say they are "taking it one race at a time", there is usually a long-term plan which they are simply unwilling to share. But in the case of Kauto Star it is the literal truth and is likely to remain so from now to the end of his racing career, which may very well arrive soon after 3.05pm on Saturday when he lines up for the Betfair Chase at Haydock. There will only be five other runners but the betting market expects at least two of them to finish in front of him. At the age of 11, this flashy, charismatic steeplechaser is thought to be past it. Even at 7-1, bigger odds than the bookies have ever offered about him since he arrived in Britain seven years ago, it is not expected that many punters will back him to turn round the form with Long Run, who beat him by 19 lengths in the King George and by 11 lengths in the Gold Cup. And yet his trainer, Paul Nicholls, can see reasons why we might witness a sensational upset, one to rank among the most enjoyable and emotional of his career if it came off. "He's probably fitter than he's been for this race ever before, because I've always used it as a stepping stone," said Nicholls, seeming relaxed at his local track, Wincanton, on Thursday. This will be Kauto Star's fifth appearance in the Betfair, which has been a useful early season target on his way to Cheltenham four months later. Now, for the first time, it is the only objective in view. "At the end of the day, this is a big goal for him," Nicholls said. "I'm not thinking further than Saturday and I didn't want to go into the race not prepared right, at his age. I've just got the feeling he'll give a really good account of himself. "I like to think I've got him as well as I had him when he ran in the Gold Cup this year. That's what we've tried to do. At home he doesn't appear to have lost anything of what he had but those good horses are always hard to work out because they always go well." Nicholls says that, when Kauto Star pipped Imperial Commander in a photo for the Betfair two years ago, he had deliberately presented the horse in a condition short of his peak with the aim of being sharper for his next run. That came in the King George, which he won by the shocking margin of 36 lengths. Now it is Nicky Henderson, trainer of Long Run, who must keep a bit back for more important targets down the road. "Long Run's beaten him twice and really should beat him again, just even because he's six and the other lad's 11," Nicholls said. "But there's just the hope in the mind that perhaps Nicky might be in the situation we've been in a couple of times, which would make it interesting." It seems that Henderson is indeed in that position. Speaking at Ascot on Friday, where he had the first three winners, the Lambourn trainer said of Long Run: "He's fit [but] he's not Gold Cup-fit because that wouldn't really be a very sensible thing to do. He's done plenty of work, he's very ready to run." Henderson has also spoken of his desire to get Long Run to jump over his fences rather than through the top of them, a dangerous habit he adopted in France, where, like Kauto Star, he spent his formative years. With a smile, Nicholls acknowledged that his horse used to do something similar. "They [French-born jumpers] get used to jumping a lot of very soft, bullfinch-type fences when they're young and do take the odd liberty," Nicholls said. "That's a while ago, he has got much more assured in his jumping now and when he fell in the Gold Cup last year, that wasn't one of his old … that was just him being tough, him and Ruby trying to get back in the race and he was just a little bit unlucky." Ruby Walsh will be back in Kauto Star's saddle, as he has been whenever injury has not got in the way, but Nicholls reports that the jockey was given the option of going instead to Ascot to ride Master Minded, King Of The Night and others. "I just spoke to him the other day and said, you've got to give it a bit of thought. "He rode Kauto work the other day and obviously had a great feel of him. I think, just supposing he was at Ascot and someone else won on Kauto, he'd be absolutely gutted. "At the end of the day, he knows full well, if Master Minded wins and Kauto underperformed, he'd get on Master in the King George. He's in a no-lose situation and I felt fairly confident he'd go and ride Kauto. It didn't take him too long to decide." One good reason to take the leg-up on Kauto Star on Saturday is that there may never be another chance. "If for whatever reason he ran moderate, I suspect it might be his last run," Nicholls concedes. "We'll see how he runs and then Clive [Smith, his owner] and I will sit down and discuss it. There's all sorts of scenarios but I don't want to make any plan further than this."