Kauto Star - The Greatest National Hunt Horse Ever

Kauto Star is an 11-year-old equine legend who has won a historic fifth King George VI Chase at Kempton Park.

Kauto Star [1] was foaled on 19 March, 2000 in France. He is by Village Star out of Kauto Relka. He stands at 16.3 hands high and weighs about 530kg (83 stone) and is trained by Paul Nicholls in Somerset, England.

Kauto Star is one of the most successful National Hunt horses of all time, ultra consistent, incredibly tough and extremely versatile, he possessed a devastating turn of foot, a unique talent among staying chasers. He holds numerous records in the sport, he was the first horse to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup and is the only horse to have won the King George VI Chase four consecutive times and has won it five times in all.

In 40 races, he has been victorious 23 times, only unplaced on six occasions and was the first horse to win over £2m in prize money over jumps. Kauto Star has run in the UK for more than 7 years, during which time he has never finished out of the first three when completing a race.

Bought by Clive Smith in 2004 for about 400,000 euros, but the purchase nearly never happened as the owner's main target at the time had been Garde Champetre until he was outbid by Irish millionaire JP McManus. The French import delivered on all his promise during the 2006-07 season, winning all six of his high-class races at six different tracks, over distances ranging from two miles to more than three-and-a-quarter miles.

In 2009 he became the first horse to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the blue riband event of steeplechasing, having lost to stablemate Denman the previous year. And just as many felt he was heading towards retirement, he showed all his old zest when winning the Betfair Chase at Haydock for the fourth time in November 2011.

He has now topped that with a stunning performance by beating Long Run to claim his fifth King George.

Will he top it all by winning another Gold Cup next March... only time will tell and with Kauto anything is possible.

Kauto Star - Best Races
2009 King George - Click here to watch the race [2]
2009 Gold Cup - Click here to watch the race [3]
2011 Betfair Chase - Click here to watch the race [4]
2011 King George - Click here to watch the race [5]

Records & Statistics

Probably Kautos most impressive statistic is his record in Grade 1 Chases. In his first six years in Britain he competed in 18 Grade 1's over distances from 2 miles to 3 & 1/4 miles. He completed 15, winning 14, with his solitary 2nd coming in the 2008 Gold Cup to his stablemate Denman.
With his 2011 Gold Cup 3rd Kauto kept his record of never finishing outside the places in any of his 27 completed races in his 7 seasons in Britain.
His official rating of 193 given after his 4th King George win was the highest ever awarded to a Steeplechaser.
He's the only horse to have won the King George for 4 consecutive seasons.
He's the only horse to have ever regained the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
He's the only horse to have ever won two separate Grade 1 (or Group 1) races 4 times (Betfair Chase & King George).
He has won more prize money than any other National Hunt horse in the history of the sport.