Racing:TONY McCOY believes Kauto Star will be "impossible to beat" in the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen's Day. Paul Nicholls' brilliant nine-year-old is chasing a remarkable fourth successive victory in the festive highlight, having warmed up with a narrow success in the Betfair Chase at Haydock.
McCoy is set to get the leg up on last year’s runner-up, Albertas Run, but he does not hold out much hope of turning the tables.
“As we all know, Kauto Star is going to win,” McCoy said. “He looks impossible to beat, but Albertas Run was a good second to him last year and hopefully that gives him a good chance of being in the money again.
“I can only see the weather upsetting Kauto Star. He’s an amazing horse to have achieved what he has – two Tingle Creeks over two miles, three King Georges and two Gold Cups.
“He’s an outstanding racehorse and will be very hard to beat.”
Kauto Star’s rider, Ruby Walsh, is equally positive about his chances and feels the reigning champion could be even better than 12 months ago.
“I would say Kauto Star is as good if not better than last year,” Walsh said. “Kempton’s been a very lucky track for me over the last couple of years and Kauto has been outstanding there. It’s a race I really look forward to and I can’t wait for it to come around.
“It’s pretty hard for me to tell how well Kauto is at home, but Paul sees him every morning so he’s a better judge of that than me and he thinks he’s improved considerably, so I’ll take his word for it.”
Imperial Commander, just a nose behind Kauto Star in the Betfair Chase, is one of three entries for Nigel Twiston-Davies, along with Ollie Magern and Roll Along.
Nicky Henderson’s Barbers Shop is an interesting contender running in the colours of Britain’s queen.
Peterborough Chase winner Deep Purple looks set to line up for Evan Williams, Tom George has left in Nacarat and Tartak, while Master Medic could run for Robert and Sally Alner.
Racing Demon, Sandymac and the David Pipe-trained pair of Madison Du Berlais and Our Vic complete the possibles.
Meanwhile, Christy Roche has lodged an appeal against the decision of the Navan stewards who found that the trainer had used the racecourse as a schooling ground when he ran Take A Stroll at the track last Saturday.
The stewards fined the trainer €2,000, banned the horse from racing for 60 days and suspended the rider, Pádraig Roche, for 10 days. The 60-day ban for the JP McManus-owned four-year-old was the maximum ban that could have been imposed by the stewards on the day.
