• Horse Racing

Kauto will head for Gold Cup despite bleeding scare

ESPN staff
January 16, 2011
Kauto Star finished third in the King George © PA Photos
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Paul Nicholls has revealed that Kauto Star will head for the Cheltenham Gold Cup - despite a bleeding scare after the King George VI Chase.

Kauto Star finished a distant third behind Long Run in his bid to win a fifth King George, with a mistake at the second-last proving ruinous to his chances.

Now Nicholls, the champion trainer, has said that Kauto bled after his exertions in the race.

"I am not making excuses but I can reveal that when he got back last night and stuck his head in the water bucket, he bled from both nostrils," Nicholls wrote in his column on Betfair. "He has never done it before, and will probably never do it again.

"It wasn't a big bleed but it indicates that he probably bled during the race (possibly after his mistake at the second last, which meant he had to dig deep to get home), which would not have aided his cause.

"He will be prepared for a tilt at a third Gold Cup victory in March - different ground, different track, different day - and we would like to aim him for a third victory at Down Royal in the autumn, too.

"As long as he is enjoying his racing and running well, then he will continue - he is 11, not 13.

"Yesterday, was undoubtedly a big disappointment. He was never travelling or jumping with any real fluency, but it wasn't as if he ran a poor race. Without his blunder at the second last, he probably would have been a fair second to a very good horse."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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