Denman proved better than Kauto Star

DDB..Please don't insult Denman !

His form was never the same and you know it !

He beat Kauto Star senseless in that epic 2008 Gold Cup and PROVED who the boss was there,whilst retaining his unbeaten steeplechase record !

E.O.S

We will have to agree to disagree my friend. You beleive greatness is acheived by being a very specific type of horse, whereas i believe it involves longevity, versatility, and class. Each to there own.

I enjoyed the debate.

Good debate DDB..and at least there were no "personal insults" involved.

Out of interest,what year did you first become interested in Horse Racing ?

Not my style AS, i am here to learn as much as anything. I beleive everyone has an opinon and is entitled to it.

Was always interested since a young age through my grandfather (am only 28 so not that long) and have great memories as very very young lad cheering on dessie while my cousin who also lived with my grandparents was a huge West Tip fan. Had an interest in the big meetings ever since and loved one man aswell, but i would say when i hit about 16/17 was when i took a proper interest. Horses like Best Mate, Moscow Flyer etc.. being my early heros at that time then obviously Kauto is a huge favourite of mine in recent years, mainly because I alsways put the xmas money on him on boxing day and was never let down haha. If pushed for a favouite i would go for Inglis Drever, just loved that wee horse, not the most talented by any means but by god had he some heart. and always had a soft spot for Well Cheif, a hugly talented and unlucky horse in my book.

Great memories DDB...and I am ,in fact,double your age...and my first memory was picking Nicolaus Silver,a grey horse,to win the 1961 Grand National and my father put the equivalent of 50 pence now to win 14 pounds at 28/1 ..quite a lot of money then !

I backed West Tip whe he won the National having unluckily unseated at Bechers the years before,and the date of that win was 5th April 1986 which I can never forget because my father died that day also and the money I won from backing 1st,3rd and 4th in the race meant absolutely nothing !

Our health is more important than anything else in this life and I hope you don't smoke either as that was the cause of his heart-attack...I never have luckily.

No i detest smoking AS, but all my family do, and one grandfather also went the same way as your father, my own father has serious heart problems from smoking and drinking as does my other grandfather so i am well aware of the dangers.

I have to say as much as you obviously dont rate the horse as highly as some, Kauto Star (along with Inglis) has taken my interest in racing to new levels, before him i had great interset in Best Mate and was lucky enough to witness his 3rd GC in person, however in hindsight his sad demise kind of killed my passion for the game a little and Kauto and Inlgis are the ones who revived it. I am a huge soccer and GAA fan and play both to decent levels and have been lucky enough to win a few awards and trophies both individually and as a team (nothing major) but i can honestly say that i have never had a feeling like watching Kauto win last years Betfair, even now i am almost in tears watching it. I just hope another horse comes along to make me feel the same.

I have also gotten more interested in the flat scene in recent times, although i am and always will be a NH follower first.

NH has always come first for me and Arkle was my boyhood hero obviously and I have a picture of him on my lounge wall and a photo of Arkle and Mill House jumping the last fence in the greatest Gold Cup ever run in 1964....check that race out on You Tube sometime and the 1965 race too to see what a "greyhound" Arkle was over fences.

His like will never be seen again in my lifetime...though I am very excited about Sprinter Sacre.

My dad has a lovely pic of Arkle in the house as well with all the big races he won listed either side. He wouldn't be a huge racing fan but always liked Arkle. I've watched as many of his races as I can find on the net and self looks to be a wonderful horse. But for obvious reasons I don't really feel a connection to him as he was way before my time.

Definitely Kauto for me

flat: sea the stars
hurdles: big bucks
fences: kauto star

in my life for me