Betfair Chase 2012 - Big Race Preview

The Full Conti - Rising star Silviniaco Conti locks horns with former Gold Cup winner Long Run in the Betfair Chase.

The 2011 renewal of the Betfair Chase was one of the most emotional afternoons on a race course I’ve witnessed in my admittedly short time as an aficionado of the sport.

The 2012 renewal of the former Lancashire Chase will do well to be even half as epic as last year’s race, but on an afternoon where a statue of the legendary Kauto Star will be unveiled as the four-time winner of the race parades at Haydock a new star could be born from the same yard as King Kauto.

You can see where Kauto Star’s 2011 Betfair Chase ranks among his all-time great performances in my Top 5 Kauto Star Races HERE

The horse that looked like ushering in a new era over jumps when he broke Kauto Star’s heart in the King George and the Gold Cup Long Run makes his eagerly anticipated reappearance in Saturday’s Betfair Chase after somewhat of a lacklustre campaign last season, if you can really call being runner up in this race and the King George, winning the Denman Chase and placing in the Gold Cup ‘lacklustre’ that is.

In spite of Kauto Star’s renaissance last season, Long Run clearly wasn’t quite right and if back to his best this time around he will be very hard to beat on Saturday and is a worthy favourite.

Paddy Power Gold Cup 2012 - Big Race Preview

Lovin' The Crus - Grands Crus looks very well handicapped for Saturday's Paddy Power Gold Cup

In spite of having all but come to an end a couple of weeks ago, the flat season is now officially over for the year, and with that comes a barrage of big Saturday races over obstacles.

The relentless big race run begins on Saturday at Cheltenham’s Open Meeting with the Paddy Power Gold Cup, a race that’s delivered some great moments over the years and has previously been a seasonal starting point for some big names; not least in recent years with subsequent Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander.

This year’s race looks like being another competitive renewal with several big names set to make their seasonal bow in the race.

My Ten To Follow list for the coming jumps season has been going great guns thus far with the first four off it to run all winning first time out, however this Saturday I’ll begrudgingly be hoping that one of my selections off that list doesn’t get the job done in the Paddy Power because Hunt Ball will be taking on my ante-post selection for this race Grands Crus.

Top Ten Performances of the Flat Season

The King - Where does Frankel's Royal Ascot romp rank among the season's best performances?

The curtain is now down on another fantastic flat season, and what a season it has been. Before we turn our attention completely to a National Hunt season that will have a great deal to live up to though, it seemed right to reminisce a little about some of the spectacular performances we have seen on race courses across the globe on the flat over the last seven months.

Here I have compiled a list of my top ten performances from the flat season just gone. The criteria for making the list is somewhat loose, these performances may be worthy of a place due to visual impressiveness, an incredible piece of jockeyship, the strength of the horses that were beaten in attaining victory, it could just be a performance that got to me emotionally or a combination of any or all of the above.

Whichever way, the ten performances from the 2012 flat season listed below will all live long in my memory, and although this is a distinctly personal countdown, I’m sure anyone who bore witness to any of these races also remembers them for their impressiveness, if not quite as vividly as I do.

Top 5 Kauto Star Races

It was mixed emotions yesterday as trainer Paul Nicholls announced the retirement of legendary chaser Kauto Star.

On the one hand it’s a time of sadness as we’ll never again get to see Kauto’s big white face emerge over a fence, but at the same time we have some great memories of his exploits and he can go out a true champion.

Kauto Star’s rise to National Hunt superstardom had almost a direct correlation with my interest in Horse Racing really developing and for that reason he has always held a special place in my heart.

His Boxing Day romps round Kempton in the King George VI Chase became more of a tradition for my family than Christmas lunch itself and the endless joy this horse brought to so many people is a feat rarely seen in Racing.

Kauto’s legend was cemented many years ago but in 2011 he ensured that his name would go down in infamy by bouncing back from the brink of retirement to win a fourth Betfair Chase and an astounding fifth King George, prompting scenes at the Parks of Haydock and Kempton that had to be seen to be believed.

Kauto Star has left a lasting impression on Horse Racing and he’s going to be a nigh-on impossible act to follow, his achievements and exploits will live long in the memory for some time to come though.

Below are, what in my opinion are, Kauto Star’s five greatest races; not necessarily his five greatest performances, because one of the things people loved about Kauto was that he was fallible and had an uncanny ability to bounce back from adversity, but the top five races that left us all with goose bumps as King Kauto thrilled us as he only he could.