Damn!

Could have backed them both at odds against, with hindsight should have done.

Kauto and Master Minded running at Aintree next week.

Kauto runs at 2.35pm tomorrow. Odds on with everybody. if he stays on his feet, he should win.

Awesome race. Cheltenham must have left him knackered as Our Vic pipped him on the line in a photo. Great race.

Must say I was very surprised that Paul Nicholls decided to run Kauto Star at Aintree. The horse looked like it was running on empty by the end of the Gold Cup and horses that run in a big race at Cheltenham and either win or get placed very rarely follow that up by winning at Aintree so soon afterwards.

I think Nicholls should perhaps look at the strategy that the connections of Best Mate used a few years ago when that horse won 3 Gold Cups in a row. That horse never ran more than 3 races a season, usually a prep race, then the King George on Boxing Day and then the Gold Cup and that would be its season. Kauto Star must have run in 5 or 6 races this season. Nicholls needs to keep the horse sharp for the business end of the season next year if it is to stand a chance of reversing the form with Denman and so by the time Cheltenham comes round next year, I reckon he should run it no more than 3 times beforehand, maybe even only 2.

Kauto's 7-1 for the Gold Cup next year. Worth a flutter at that price.

Tony McCoy has been booked to ride Denman in the Gold Cup next month, with Ruby Walsh on Kauto Star. The best 2 jump jockeys on the best 2 steeplechasers going in the blue riband race of the year should be a pretty awesome spectacle if it all comes to pass.

Absolutely. I'm a big fan of McCoy so could be tempted to back Denman this time around.

Kauto now odds-on to win with Denman out to 7/2 after he unseated AP yesterday.

I watched the race yesterday and Denman jumped flawlessly until coming under pressure about 4 fences out. He then blundered at the 3rd last going for a big jump and then unseated McCoy at the following fence. I thought John Francome made a good point on the Channel 4 coverage yesterday where he stopped short of criticising Tony McCoy but said that McCoy's aggressive style of riding in that situation is the opposite to how Ruby Walsh would have coaxed the horse if he was on board and perhaps McCoy's approach isn't suited to how Denman responds.

What makes for a good race at Cheltenham is that both Denman and Kauto Star have shown themselves a little bit fallible when they are put under pressure in recent times and both can make the odd blunder which is likely to be costly if it happens coming down the hill at Cheltenham. I'd say Kauto Star should win if it gets round at Cheltenham, but that isn't guaranteed.

The winner of that race yesterday, Tricky Trickster, is entered for the Grand National and the way it stayed on at the end to get the race on the line suggests it should get the 4 and a half miles at Aintree.

I'd still be tempted to back Denman at 7/2, but McCoy definitely is a better jockey on the flat.