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Gold Cup: Why the Kauto team deserve £1,000,000 if they land the Betfair Million

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Ian Dean on the phenomenal feat it takes to land the exchange's jumps racing bonus

In the sea of media coverage that has engulfed the Gold Cup showdown of Kauto Star and Denman, one aspect has tended to be overlooked...the not inconsiderable matter of a million of your English pounds.

Kauto Star stands on the brink of landing the £1 million bonus offered by Betfair for any horse completing the treble of Grade 1 chases, the Betfair Chase, the King George and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. It is becoming a habit, as the eight-year-old snaffled the same bonus 12 months ago.

Money isn't everything in life, of course, whatever Liza Minelli may say, and the fervent hope is that this year's Gold Cup will indeed be priceless. Even so, the feat is worthy of some reflection.

When the Betfair Million was launched in 2005, history suggested that the sponsors were on safe ground. Only twice since Desert Orchid ruled the roost in the late '80s had Kempton's King George VI Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup fallen to the same chaser in the same season, namely Best Mate in 2002/3 and Kicking King in 2004/5.

With the task of firstly landing Haydock's Betfair Chase thrown in for good measure, the bonus promised to be enticing but rarely grasped. History now shows the readies would have been safer under granny's mattress.

Kauto Star still had questions to answer at the start of his quest last winter. Having ended the previous campaign on the floor when favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, he was considered a doubtful stayer and a dicey jumper in many quarters. Following five straight wins in the Million races, there are few doubters left. He's even managed to erase the last-fence howler that gave his pursuers false hope for a time.

Kauto Star's class is there for all to see. Likewise his versatility regarding distance and ground. But durability is also an integral part of making a National Hunt horse one of the greats. Flat horses can come and go in the blink of an eye. It's the longevity of a jumps career that truly earns a plot in a racing fan's heart.

And durability is a key requirement of the Betfair Million. Unlike, say, the Imperial Cup/Cheltenham handicaps bonus of the last week, the Betfair Million isn't prey to a smash-and-grab raid. Rather it demands that a horse raise its game three times over four months and against the best around.

Best Mate may have won three Gold Cups, but those around him would have baulked at the idea of jeopardising those wins with a slog through the Lancashire mud in November.

For Kauto Star, there has been little sign of a hard race leaving a mark that would hinder the rest of his campaign. He may not be an old-fashioned chaser on looks, no bruiser in the Denman mould, but his record shows him to be as tough as old horseshoes.

Indeed, connections even had the audacity of pot-hunting Sandown's Tingle Creek Chase along the way last season, just 14 days after the Betfair Chase, such was his rude health.

Like the Chelseas and Man Utds of the footballing world, Paul Nicholls will always be open to the slight of prospering through the pool of talent at his disposal. Such an attitude ignores the fact you have to earn that position of privilege (well, maybe not in Chelsea's case!), and once attaining it, you have to deal with the added pressures that it brings. Whilst admitting to feeling the heat, Nicholls has not missed a beat in his handling of his prized asset.

All of which serves to underline the task of his 14 rivals on Friday. To quote Timeform: 'If Kauto Star is at his very best, it will take a performance unsurpassed in the Gold Cup in 40 years to defeat him'.

It is not impossible Denman will produce such a performance, but if Kauto Star keeps him at bay he'll have earned every penny coming his way.