King George target for Kauto Star

A crack at the Stan James King George VI Chase is just one of the possibilities for Kauto Star this season as trainer Paul Nicholls plots the coming campaign for his talented five-year-old.

The Ditcheat handler, crowned British champion for the first time in 2005/6, has marked out the Old Roan Chase at Aintree on October 23 as a first port of call for the gelding, who crashed out in the early stages of the Queen Mother Champion Chase in March and has not raced since.

Winner of the William Hill Tingle Creek Chase last December, he could bid for repeat, although Nicholls has a suspicion he could be in need of a longer trip.