Kauto Star picks up top award

Racing : Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kauto Star was hailed as one of the greatest chasers in recent times after claiming top …

Racing: Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kauto Star was hailed as one of the greatest chasers in recent times after claiming top honours at the second annual Anglo-Irish Jump Racing Awards in central London.

The seven-year-old, who is trained by Paul Nicholls, claimed no less than four awards, including the coveted Horse of the Year title.

Kauto Star was also crowned champion two-mile, two-and-a-half-mile and three-mile plus chaser. He also bagged the Racing UK Order of Merit following a season that saw him record six straight victories, over a range of distances, at six different racecourses.

Mighty Man was named champion two-and-a-half mile plus hurdler for a second successive season, while Dessie Hughes's Hardy Eustace and John Carr's Sublimity were joint champion two-mile hurdlers.

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The prolific Katchit and Denman were champion novice hurdler and chaser respectively.

The formal presentations for the Order of Merit saw Kauto Star collect the £200,000 first prize, with Exotic Dancer awarded £75,000 for second with Mighty Man claiming £25,000 for third place.

Award winners: Champion novice hurdle, Katchit; champion novice chaser, Denman; champion two-mile hurdler, Hardy Eustace, Sublimity; champion two-mile chaser, Kauto Star; champion two-and-a-half-mile plus hurdler, Mighty Man; champion two-and-a-half-mile chaser, Kauto Star; champion three-mile plus chaser, Kauto Star; British champion conditional, Tom O'Brien; British champion jockey, Tony McCoy; British champion trainer, Paul Nicholls; British champion owner, JP McManus; horse of the year, Kauto Star.