Kauto owner expects bold return

Kauto Star's owner Clive Smith says his former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner is 'full of beans' ahead of his seasonal reappearance in the Jnwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal on Saturday.

The eight-year-old relinquished his crown to Denman in a gruelling renewal of the blue riband event in March and also suffered a reverse at Aintree at the hands of Our Vic.

However, Smith is confident Kauto Star has been totally refreshed by his summer break and is expecting a bold show.

'Paul Nicholls is very pleased with him, his jumping is very sharp and he's full of beans really,' said Smith.

'He's a bit livelier than he was this time last year. He came out for the Old Roan but he was a bit quiet and then he came up well for races later in the season.

'He probably shouldn't have really been at Aintree after all the build up there had been for Cheltenham as he had a very hard race there and three weeks later we were looking at Aintree.

'I think a lot of horses take time to recover and those races at Cheltenham take an awful lot out of them. I don't think we'll be going to Aintree again.

"If you looked at his last three races before the Gold Cup his jumping was immaculate, at Haydock, in the King George and at Ascot.

'He just didn't quite have his day in the Gold Cup but we'll see how he goes this year, if he gets there. He seems to be very alert after his break and very sharp in his schooling. He seems as good as ever so we are very hopeful.

'We'd like to go to Haydock after Saturday, we've won the Betfair Chase twice now and his big early-season target is the King George.

'We hope that we can have a better run in the Gold Cup this year and I'd be absolutely delighted if he could win it again, but that is a long way away yet.'

Main opposition on Saturday is likely to come from The Listener, having his first run for fledgling trainer Nick Mitchell. He will still have his usual partner Daryl Jacob on board though.

'I went down to school him over 10 fences at Nick Mitchell's the other day and he seems in great form and I'm really looking forward to riding him again,' Jacob told At The Races.

'He likes it over in Ireland, while the Grade Ones are tough they are not as competitive as in England - he looks up against it against Kauto Star this time though. Nick thinks he'll run well and it will be a great race.

'Hopefully it will be plenty soft enough for us and that will be to our advantage over Kauto Star. Last year he was very fresh in this race and he unseated me but when I sat on him last week, he felt in good form and I think he's straight enough to do himself justice.'

Jessica Harrington's Knight Legend will also line up but she is well aware of the task he faces. 'Knight Legend is very well and he is a definite runner at Down Royal,' she said.

'He did it very well on his reappearance and obviously he is now stepping back up to three miles. But he has ran well over the trip before and we will just see how it goes.

'It looks as though it's going to be a very hot race but our horse is going well and if he can pick up a bit of prize-money, I would be delighted.'