Efficient Denman Still the Big Threat to Kauto

Brilliance is the greatest asset of a champion racehorse, but there are times when efficiency has its merits too. There was nothing spectacular about Denman's four-length success in the Lexus Chase here at Leopardstown yesterday, but he did all that was necessary in a slowly run race to beat Mossbank and The Listener, and extend his unbeaten record over fences to seven races.

It is race nine in the sequence that is likely to be the one that matters, if and when Denman gets that far. Everyone in racing is now looking past his expected prep race at Newbury in February, and squarely at the Gold Cup in March.

He still looks like the only serious danger to Kauto Star, his stablemate at Paul Nicholls' yard, who won the King George VI Chase on Wednesday. Yesterday's effort did not take the breath away, but it moved the race of the decade one step closer, which is as much as anyone can ask.

It did not take Denman's breath away either, as he was barely blowing in the winner's enclosure afterwards and would surely have been much more impressive with a proper pace to chase. As it was, Ruby Walsh, his jockey, was forced to take it up going to the first fence, and he was at, or near, the head of affairs for the remainder of the race.

It was only going to three out that Walsh started to wind things up, and Denman was ridden to gain some breathing space on the home turn. His jumping at the last was quick and effective, just as it had been throughout, and he stayed on strongly.

"It was what I expected really," Nicholls said. "He's a great jumper and he just hacked along with his ears pricked. It was just a different sort of race today. At Newbury [in the Hennessy] it was a fast-run race, which suited him better. Today was a small field, and when you get a situation like that it doesn't look so impressive.

"He'll always be a better horse the better the race, you just wouldn't know what he's got in the tank. Today, he's knuckled down and gone and galloped and won, and he'll keep doing that.

"The only way you can compare him and Kauto Star is when they run against each other. If Kauto had run in that race today with no pace, the same sort of thing would have happened."

Some bookmakers trimmed Denman's Gold Cup odds after yesterday's race, others pushed him out, and the remainder - the sensible ones, probably - left him alone at around 2-1.

The best price is 9-4, with Boylesports, a price which might be enough to tempt in Harry Findlay, the heavy-hitting professional gambler who co-owns Denman. Findlay is confident that a strongly run three miles and two furlongs at Cheltenham will be the ideal test for Denman.

"He was awesome in the air today and that's just what you need in the middle stages of a Gold Cup," Findlay said.

"Last year at Newbury in the novice chase and then here today, I've never seen a horse who was better in the air in terms of how clever he is, and ultimately that's won him the race.

"I'd have kept him the same price and shortened Kauto Star a bit after that. Kauto was awesome at Kempton, but then again, Exotic Dancer nearly refused when he was in the lead, and My Way De Solzen pulled up.

"A lot of people who loved him in the Hennessy might try and crab that performance, but the people over here like Eddie O'Grady and Noel Meade who were Denman fans after that last run, they won't crab him because they know that he's a Gold Cup horse.

"If we weren't a Gold Cup horse, we'd be more like a Welsh National horse than a King George horse. That's the difference between the two horses and that's why Cheltenham will sort them out."

Since the Gold Cup betting now suggests that it is roughly a 1-4 chance that one of the front two will win, Denman's connections must hope that the race will not cut up too severely. Last year's renewal was run at a poor clip by Festival standards, much to the benefit of Kauto Star, and the defending champion would surely have too much speed for Denman in the closing stages if the same thing happens again in March.

The job of steering Denman at the Festival, meanwhile, seems likely to fall to Sam Thomas, Nicholls' No2 jockey, though Walsh is not going to rush his decision. "That's a long way out yet," he said. "The record I've got [with injuries] at the minute, I hope to God that I get there, let alone the two horses."