ALMOST 12 months have passed since Kauto Star’s dethroning by Long Run in the last William Hill King George VI Chase, but trainer Paul Nicholls believes Kempton racegoers will see a different horse on Monday.

Henrietta Knight is looking forward to stepping her talented chaser Somersby over to staying distances this season.

RIGHTLY or wrongly, National Hunt jockeys these days are rated by the number of winners they ride at the Cheltenham Festival.

TONY McCOY faces an even stiffer task than was first expected as he goes in search of his 3,000th jumps winner at Sandown today after one of his three intended mounts was declared a non-runner.

TWIST MAGIC can give weight and a beating to all of his rivals in the William Hill Gold Cup Chase at Exeter today.

There is no-one better qualified to assess this season’s Champion Chase than Guillaume Macaire.

HENRIETTA Knight is sending Calgary Bay down the Best Mate route by running him in the Anglo Irish Bank Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday.

ANTE-POST punters suffered a pre-Christmas blow after learning that Yes Sir is to bypass a clash with the big boys in Kempton’s Stan James King George VI Chase.

CONNECTIONS of Exotic Dancer are hoping to have Tony McCoy in the saddle for the Stan James King George VI Chase after it was confirmed the champion jockey will be at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day.

Racing Demon continued Henrietta Knight’s monopoly of the totesport.com Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon by providing the popular trainer with her seventh victory in the last nine renewals of the Grade Two event.

JIM LEWIS is hoping for a favour from fellow owner JP McManus as he would like Tony McCoy to partner Impek in tomorrow week’s totesport Peterborough Chase.

Owner David Johnson could not hide his frustration as Contraband produced a lacklustre performance on his return from injury at Kempton to leave his Paddy Power Gold Cup hopes in tatters.

WAR OF ATTRITION has earned an official rating of 170 with his impressive victory in last Friday’s totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.

WHAT makes a Gold Cup horse? Plenty of things, really, but stamina and high cruising speed are the basics.

His pride and joy may have failed in the race for the past three years but Michael Hourigan is hopeful Beef Or Salmon can make it fourth time lucky in the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup tomorrow.

IT’S funny how, given that everything at Cheltenham depends on the speed of forward movement, a horse who goes nowhere at all could bring the venue to a standstill.

A life-size bronze statue of triple totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Best Mate was unveiled at the course today.

Champion Irish jumps trainer Noel Meade could be double-handed in the John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree on April 8.

THE lunacy of long-range ante-post betting for punters on National Hunt racing was surely never better illustrated than by the problems of Kicking King, Harchibald and Inglis Drever over the last few days.

Henrietta Knight confirmed today that Impek is to bid for a poignant victory in the Stan James King George VI Chase on Boxing Day.

The ashes of triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate were laid to rest today in a ceremony at the scene of his greatest triumphs.

BEST MATE’S ashes will be laid to rest behind the winning post at Cheltenham prior to racing there on Saturday week.

Jim Lewis has chosen to have Best Mate’s ashes laid to rest at the scene of his three victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Red Blazer, one of Henrietta Knight’s favourite horses, will fill the box left empty by Best Mate at her West Lockinge stables.

Triple Gold Cup winner Best Mate has been prevented from being buried at Exeter racecourse “because of government legislation” and he will be cremated instead.

Triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate is likely to be remembered at the scene of his greatest triumphs in the form of a statue.

Tony McCoy described Best Mate as “the best steeplechaser we’ve seen around for a long time” as he paid tribute to the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, who died at Exeter on Tuesday.

Henrietta Knight paid tribute to the horse that “put my stable on the map” after triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate tragically collapsed and died of a suspected heart attack at Exeter yesterday.

BEST MATE’S story started on January 28, 1995 near Trim in County Meath, when the mare Katday produced a bay-coloured foal.

A BITTER DAY, in every sense of the word.

BEST MATE, the first chaser since Arkle to win three consecutive Gold Cups, died of a heart attack during a comeback race at Exeter yesterday.

Best Mate’s story started on January 28, 1995 near Trim in County Meath, Ireland when the mare Katday produced a bay-coloured foal.

Best Mate’s much-anticipated racecourse return ended in tragedy as he suffered a fatal heart attack in the William Hill Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter.

Best Mate will face 10 rivals as the triple-Cheltenham Gold Cup winner makes his eagerly-anticipated return to action at Exeter on Tuesday.

PAUL CARBERRY is to become the fourth jockey to ride Best Mate when the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner makes his long-awaited reappearance at Exeter tomorrow.

Jim Lewis will be delighted if triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate makes the frame and returns sound after his long-awaited reappearance at Exeter next month.

Trainer Henrietta Knight has warned triple Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Best Mate faces a stiff task when he makes his eagerly-awaited return to action.

The future of triple Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Best Mate is in the hands of Mother Nature, according to his trainer Henrietta Knight.

OWNER Jim Lewis will seek the best jockey available on the day for Best Mate following the retirement of the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner’s regular partner Jim Culloty.

Owner Jim Lewis will seek the best jockey available on the day for Best Mate following the retirement of the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner’s regular partner Jim Culloty.

Best Mate is set to make his eagerly-awaited reappearance in the William Hill Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter on November 1.

Henrietta Knight remains tight-lipped about who will ride Best Mate when the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner kicks off his campaign at Exeter in November.

JIM CULLOTY, the man who partnered Best Mate to successive Cheltenham Gold Cup triumphs in 2002, 2003 and 2004, has announced his retirement from the saddle.