What you didn’t know about… Kauto Star

Groom Rose Loxton tells H&H about the dual Gold Cup-winning hero.

Fact file

Name: Kauto Star

Stable name: Kauto

Age: 12

Height: 16.3hh

Breed: thoroughbred

Sire: Village Star

Discipline: National Hunt racing

Owner: Clive Smith

Trainer: Paul Nicholls

Groom: Rose Loxton

Best ever result: five times King George VI chase and dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner

Five things you didn’t know…

1 He has won 23 out of 40 starts under Rules – including a record 16 Grade Ones and five King George VI chases.

2 He’s won more than £2.3million in prize-money – more than any National Hunt horse in history.

3 His name is pronounced “Kaw-toe” not “Kay-toe”. Clive believes something was “lost in pronunciation” when Kauto came over from France.

4 He has a bar named after him at Kempton Park racecourse, packed full of memorabilia, which opened in February.

5 The famous silks were designed by owner Clive Smith in just a few minutes and are based on the club colours of Camberley Golf Course, where he was once captain – the yellow of the bunkers, the green of the fairway and the purple heather.

To read the full interview with Rose Loxton about Kauto Star see the 8 March issue of H&H

Watch Kauto Star run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup today (16 March 2012) at 3.20pm on Channel 4

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