Sporting Life - Racing | Result, Cheltenham 13-03-2009 Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup

Friday March 13 2009

Cheltenham 15:20 - Result

Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup

£475000 added, 5yo plus, 3m 2f 110y, Class 1, £270798 penalty, 16 ran

Going: Good to Soft, Good in places

Race Report » Watch Full Race» Watch Closing Stages»

Winning Time: 6m 44.95s

Pos.	Draw	Dist.	Horse	Wt	Jockey	Trainer	Age	SP
1			Kauto Star (FR)	11-10	R Walsh	P F Nicholls	9	7/4 f
		tracked leaders, led after 3 out, soon clear, powered home, ridden out opened 13/8 touched 15/8 £2000-£1000 (x4) £15000-£8000 £7500-£4000 (x3) £3750-£2000 (x2) £1875-£1000 (x6) £938-£500 (x5) £7000-£4000 (x4) £3500-£2000 (x3) £1750-£1000 (x4) £3250-£2000 (x3) £1625-£1000 (x3)
2		13	Denman (IRE)	11-10	S Thomas	P F Nicholls	9	7/1
		chased leaders, disputed 2nd 13th, ridden to chase winner after 3 out, stayed on, soon held opened 13/2 touched 15/2 £10000-£1200 (x2) £15000-£2000 £7000-£1000 (x2)
3		2½	Exotic Dancer (FR)	11-10	A P McCoy	Jonjo O'Neill	9	8/1
		held up well off pace, hit 1st, 9th and 11th, smooth headway after 17th, ridden after 3 out, went 3rd when hit next, stayed on opened 8/1 touched 8/1 £40000-£5000 £20000-£2500 Each Way £8000-£1000
4		6	Neptune Collonges (FR)	11-10	Christian Williams	P F Nicholls	8	15/2
		led until 8th, hit next, led 12th, mistake 4 out, soon ridden, headed after next, one pace after opened 8/1 touched 8/1 £4000-£500 £5250-£700 £3500-£500
5		2	My Will (FR)	11-10	Nick Scholfield	P F Nicholls	9	100/1
		mid-division, hit 16th, soon ridden, outpaced approaching 3 out, stayed on again from 2 out opened 100/1 touched 100/1
6		nk	Roll Along (IRE)	11-10	G Lee	C Llewellyn	9	40/1
		held up, headway after 12th, ridden after 16th, outpaced after 4 out, stayed on again from 2 out opened 50/1 touched 50/1
7		9	Barbers Shop	11-10	B J Geraghty	N J Henderson	7	10/1
		in touch, not much room after 18th, mistake next, soon ridden, weakened approaching 2 out opened 11/1 touched 11/1 £10000-£700 £22000-£2000 £5000-£500 (x2)
8		10	Madison Du Berlais (FR)	11-10	T Scudamore	D Pipe	8	10/1
		chased leaders, hit 6th, ridden after 14th, weakened 17th opened 10/1 touched 11/1 £5500-£500 £5000-£500
9		5	Albertas Run (IRE)	11-10	D Elsworth	Jonjo O'Neill	8	14/1
		mid-division, headway 15th, ridden after 18th, mistake 4 out, weakened next opened 14/1 touched 14/1 £14000-£1000 £7000-£500 Each Way
10		14	Knowhere (IRE)	11-10	P J Brennan	N A Twiston-Davies	11	100/1
		held up, hit 6th, 9th, 10th and 11th, struggling 13th, weakened 17th opened 100/1 touched 100/1
11		1¾	Cerium (FR)	11-10	K Mercer	Paul Murphy	8	300/1
		always in rear, lost touch 12th opened 250/1 touched 300/1
12		5	Air Force One (GER)	11-10	N Fehily	C J Mann	7	16/1
		in touch, ridden and weakening when mistake 18th opened 25/1 touched 25/1 £10000-£500 Each Way £10000-£500
13		2¾	Star De Mohaison (FR)	11-10	T J Murphy	P F Nicholls	8	20/1
		mid-division, ridden after 4 out, jumped awkwardly 3 out, soon weakened opened 22/1 touched 25/1
PU			Halcon Genelardais (FR)	11-10	R Thornton	A King	9	40/1
		hit 7th, soon struggling in rear, behind when pulled up 13th opened 66/1 touched 66/1
PU			Snoopy Loopy (IRE)	11-10	S E Durack	P Bowen	11	66/1
		prominent, led 8th until 12th, hit next, faded from 14th, tailed off and pulled up before 18th opened 80/1 touched 100/1
F			Miko de Beauchene (FR)	11-10	A Thornton	R H & Mrs S Alner	9	150/1
		mid-division, hit 6th, struggling 13th, outpaced 17th, fell 4 out opened 125/1 touched 150/1

Tote Win: Ł2.70 Tote Place: Ł1.50,Ł3.00,Ł2.10
Straight Forecast: Ł12.62 Tricast: Ł79.12 Exacta: Ł17.00 Trifecta: Ł78.80
Swingers:1&2:Ł3.00, 2&3:Ł8.50, 1&3:Ł2.80

Jackpot: £132,434.45 carried forward to Uttoxeter, 14th Mar Placepot: £656.50 Pool:£927,752.75 1,031.62 winning tickets Quadpot: £34.20 Pool:£38,354.74 828.78 winning tickets

Analysis: KAUTO STAR was already assured of his place amongst the pantheon of racing legends before this race but now he is even further up the hall of fame list after becoming the first horse to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Settled just off the pace, Ruby Walsh oozed confidence throughout and the three-time King George winner didn't put a foot wrong at any of his fences. This was his greatest performance and if keeping him fresh was the key he could well come back and do it again next year as Paul Nicholls said afterwards he will have just three races next season - at Down Royal, Kempton and back here. He's 2/1 for a third win with many bookmakers and that will already be tempting some. Denman ran an absolute blinder in second following his well-documented problems. Prominent throughout, he looked his old self and was just beaten for toe by the winner at the business end. On this evidence he's back and another rematch next season is the one everybody is hoping for. Exotic Dancer ran well in third, Neptune Collonges led for a long way before fading into fourth while My Will stayed on for fifth to ensure Paul Nicholls trained four of the first five home.