Is Kauto Star the next Arkle?
Over the past two years Kauto Star has been causing a stir in the world of national hunt racing. The Paul Nichol’s trained French thoroughbred is the highest rated racehorse over fences since the unforgettable Desert Orchid, and has put in a series of memorable performances since crossing the channel to compete in the Britain’s biggest national hunt races.
With Kauto Star’s win at the 2007 Cheltenham Gold Cup leading some to claim that he is the next Arkle it is time to consider whether Kauto Star really has what it takes to match up to the Irish legend.
The Guiness Swigging Champion
Despite the fact that more than four decades have passed since he stole the hearts of sports lovers across the United Kingdom, Arkle’s legend has endured.
The great Irish racehorse built his reputation at the Cheltenham Festival, where he won three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups between 1964 and 1966. In achieving this feat he became the only the second competitor in the history of national hunt racing’s most prestigious race to win the title three times.
Arkle’s achievements at the Cheltenham Festival made him a household name across Great Britain, where rumors spread that his abilities were the result of a daily diet that included two pints of
Guinness. The racehorse became so popular that he received mountains of fan mail and was considered by some to be a worthy successor to prime minister Harold Wilson.
Does Kauto Star really match up?
It is difficult to say whether Kauto Star deserve the comparisons with Arkle based purely on his excellent victories at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, King George VI Chase and the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
On the one hand Arkle never achieved wins in the King George VI Chase or the Queen Mother Champion Chase. On the other, Kauto Star will almost certainly struggle to match Arkle’s record in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
It has also been noted that whilst Kauto Star has all the class a top racehorse could wish for, questions linger over his tendency to commit serious mistakes at crucial moments during races, a fact reflected in his racing stats.
A look at the form book
Readers of the Racing Post did not vote Arkle as Britain’s all time favourite racehorse for no reason. The Irish racehorse had a brilliant record that included 27 wins out of 34 races under weights, with 23 of these races won with Arkle carrying over 12 stone.
Kauto Star is unable to lay claim to such a stellar record. This is largely due to the fact that Kauto Star’s career started with a series of poor races over hurdles, which saw him take only 4 wins from 10 races. His steeplechase record, however, compares favourably to Arkle’s, with Kauto Star winning 9 of his 13 starts over fences.
A great in his own right
Without even taking into account the absence of a personality cult comparable to the one that grew up around Arkle, it seems as if Kauto Star has some way to go before he can lay claim to the Irish champion’s title of all time great.
Nevertheless, at seven years of age Kauto Star has time on his side. Arkle retired at the age of nine, giving Kauto Star two more seasons to make ground on Arkle’s Cheltenham Gold Cup record. Whether or not he achieves this feat, Kauto Star has probably done enough to earn a place of his own in the pantheon of Britain’s greatest ever racehorses.
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