Kauto Star will be many people's idea of their Christmas banker but Long Run's owner Robert Waley-Cohen is plotting his demise.
Waley-Cohen has confidence in Long Run claims
The vast majority of racing fans will be banking on Kauto Star to pay for Christmas but Robert Waley-Cohen, Long Run's owner, is plotting his demise.
Paul Nicholls' star chaser is bidding to become the first horse in history to win the King George VI Chase five times and eclipse Desert Orchid's record in the Kempton highlight in the process.
Most layers have the French-bred star odds-on to lift the prize and next in the betting is fellow Gallic import, Long Run.
Five years younger than Kauto Star, the Nicky Henderson-trained gelding crossed the Channel with top-class form to his name which he has added to since his arrival.
Although many had him down as a shade disappointing when beaten on his seasonal reappearance in Cheltenham's Paddy Power Gold Cup, his owner was left thoroughly satisfied with his performance.
"He's going great at the moment and is in very good form," said Waley-Cohen.
"I thought he ran a very good race at Cheltenham. It was his first run in a handicap in his life and he was giving a lot of weight to the horses who finished in front of him.
"It was his first run of the season and the handicapper was impressed enough to put him up 4lb.
"It was a career-best performance, so what's to worry about?"
Long live the king?
Long Run's defeat led many to conclude that if he could not win a handicap off a mark of 158, how was he going to beat the 190-rated Kauto Star.
In response, Waley Cohen said: "That is why he is the even-money favourite and we're 5-1.
"Kauto Star is the horse we have to beat, but it takes some performance for any horse to win a race five times in a row.
"We're the five-year-old with lots of improvement in us, while he's nearly an 11-year-old who is presumably at the other end of his career, so he's there to be shot at."
Long Run owes his position in the King George betting due to his incredible performance in the Feltham Novices' Chase over the same course and distance last Christmas.
Waley-Cohen believes if his young charge - who will one again be ridden by his amateur rider son Sam Waley-Cohen - is in the same form that he is capable of dethroning a horse he refers to as the 'king'.
"I think you'd have to be impressed with the performance of Long Run in the Feltham last year," Waley-Cohen continued.
"He was in great form and ran an incredibly impressive race.
"It's what happens to all old kings. The younger generation come along and thrust them out.
"I suppose if you're the old king, you don't like it, but that's the way it is and I hope it's us that does the thrusting!
"I hope we're good enough to do it, but the fact that he's the price he is and we're 5-1, pretty much tells you the challenge we have ahead of us."
There will be those that have the Long Run camp as the villains of the piece if he does indeed manage to come out on top over the festive period.
That does not worry his owner, however, and he insists he wants to see Kauto Star give his true running to prove that Long Run is as good as his connections believe.
"What I really hope is that Long Run runs to his full potential, I hope that Kauto Star does too and I hope that we finish in front of him," Waley-Cohen reasoned.
"You want both horses to finish having done their best and we want to beat him fair and square."
Henderson has already gone on record as saying that he believes Long Run will be one of the few horses able to go with Kauto Star when he makes his trademark kick for home, but getting past him is another thing.
Waley-Cohen is keen to not get into race tactics, a job he will leave to his son and his trainer.
"Thank goodness I have an extremely able jockey to sort all that out and a wily trainer as well," he continued.
"I think if Long Run had run in the race last year, he'd have finished a lot closer to Kauto Star than any other horse did. That's the way I look at it.
"Lets bring it on and see what happens."
