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Captain's Blog - 19th January 2011

We got the best nights sleep for a while last night as our little daughter decided not to have a 5 hour bout of colic and slept instead. I never realised just how much you could crave sleep and rest, at least for now that craving has been satisfied. With a bit of luck it will be more of the same tonight but I am not counting my chickens just yet.

I have just read that blood tests have revealed that Kauto Star had a low grade infection when he ran in the King George and he now is to undergo a course of antibiotics. This is added grist to the mill that he simply was not himself on Saturday. Some people are already writing him off as far as the Cheltenham Gold Cup because they believe age has caught up with him. I think this is a dangerous position to adopt as, more important than his age, is the fact that he is relatively lightly raced and does not have too many miles on the clock. He has only raced 36 times in his career and since he won the Gold Cup in the March of 2009 he has only raced 5 times. He is relatively fresh for an 11 year old and still has a big effort in him. For me though that big effort depends on one vital factor and as I stated yesterday that factor is Ruby Walsh. Time will tell whether it has actually caught up with him, and it is perfectly plausible that it has, but I am prepared to give him another chance based on what we know and that chance will come in March at Cheltenham.

Khyber Kim
© racing-images.co.uk

I normally have a few bets rolling by now as regards the Cheltenham festival and they are usually in the hurdle races, but I do not have any strong views at the moment. The Champion Hurdle picture is one that points to it being hard to beat Binocular. Last year I was all over Khyber Kim and he ran well for us in finishing second. He disappointed at Kempton on Saturday but having looked at his race record yesterday we can excuse the run I think. He has run three times on a right handed track over hurdles and here is his record:-

15th Jan 2011 Kempton 4th beaten 13L
15th Jan 2009 Ludlow 5th beaten 17L
20th Dec 2008 Ascot 11th beaten 18L

It would seem that he does not act on right handed tracks. I know this is limited evidence but it is surely relevant particularly when you look at his record going the other way round which admittedly he has done a lot more often. He has a very good record at Cheltenham and he may still be a live contender for the Champion hurdle despite that poor effort last time.

Those are my thoughts for another day folks. Take it easy.

Today’s Selection

2.30 Lingfield – Even Bolder – (each way 9/2 Sky Bet )