Everything in Garden is rosy for Richards

Oct 29 2007 by Chris Wright, Liverpool Daily Post

MONET’S GARDEN found Aintree once again to his liking as he lowered the colours of the mighty Kauto Star in an exciting bonusprint.com Old Roan Chase yesterday.

Trainer Nicky Richards is already looking forward to next April so his flying grey can return to his favourite track on Merseyside to defend his Melling Chase crown.

But yesterday connections basked in the one-and-a-half length victory over Paul Nicholls’ Betfair Million winner, who was an honourable runner-up. Monet’s Garden (9-4) was just one of many who had found Paul Nicholls’ star too good last season. But with a weight concession of a stone, over his ideal trip of 2m4f and on a track in which the nine-year-old had won twice and been second on his three previous visits, under a fine ride once again by Tony Dobbin he finally got the better of the 11-10 favourite.

It may have been Kauto Star’s first defeat in more than 18 months, but his battling display will have put him spot on for a similar campaign to last year when he won, among others, the Betfair Chase at Haydock, the King George VI Chase and the Gold Cup to land the £1million bonus.

But for Monet’s Garden, options are now open after he scored a win Richards half expected. The Greystoke handler said: “The race went the way we thought it would go and when I saw Ruby squeezing along on Kauto Star with a circuit to go I thought ‘this is all right’.

“But to the second’s credit he kept at it – he is a great horse and it was a great performance.

“I would have thought Paul was a little concerned going out into the country but to the horse’s credit he kept at it.

“He’d be the only one who could give my horse weight like that – I promise you.

“Two-and-a-half miles seems to be his best trip, but we might drop to two miles and I’ll consider the Tingle Creek with him, or we might go for the Peterborough.

“It would have to be good ground for him to run in the King George, and his big target will probably be to bring him back here in April again.”

Kauto Star used last year’s Old Roan Chase as his starting point for his stunning unbeaten campaign. And although the Clive Smith-owned seven-year-old couldn’t score back-to-back wins, yesterday’s race will have put him on target for Haydock next month and the start of the Betfair Million – for which he is a best-priced 11-2 with totesport.

Nicholls said: “I have said all week this was a starting point and we couldn’t have asked for more.

“I thought Monet’s Garden was the one to beat at the weights as he is a specialist two-and-a-half miler.

“I have left plenty to work on this year and he has been beaten giving weight away and if you look at the form this is where we want to start.

“He did run lazy early on but my view now is that he wants a trip, and he has run his best races over three miles.

“Two-and-a-half miles around here is sharp enough for him but he has jumped brilliantly.

“This has set the season up brilliantly for us and he is a Gold Cup horse, which we will train him for now.

“We have got a month to Haydock now and that is his target.

“I always said that if he is going to get beat then today would be the day, and he was giving over a stone to a very good horse.”

Kauto Star is a best-priced 11-8 with William Hill, Stan James and bet365 for King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, with Monet’s Garden 12-1 with Boylesports for the same contest.

For the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Nicholls’ star is 9-4 with Stan James.

Another horse with Cheltenham as a long-term aim is Katchit, who managed to defy his own weight burden at Aintree yesterday when beating Degas Art by a length and three-quarters despite conceding 15lbs in the Personalised from bonusprint.com Hurdle.

Katchit is 7-1 with BetDirect and Better for the Champion Hurdle next march and trainer Alan King stated the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle next month as his next destination.

Last year’s Triumph Hurdle winner, who also scored a Grade One success at Aintree in April, is also in the running for a £1m bonus, put up by betting exchange WBX for any horse who can win the Fighting Fifth, Christmas Hurdle and Champion Hurdle.

Katchit’s trainer King said: “The result of the Fighting Fifth will determine where Katchit goes afterwards.

“If he wins at Newcastle, he will go for the bonus and that means the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton rather than the Bula. It will break my heart to miss Cheltenham, but it is just impossible to run in both races. Only if he is beaten at Newcastle will he go to the Bula.”

TODAY’S NAP: Rain Stops Play (3.20pm Leicester).