Kauto possible for Hennessy after Down Royal Paul Nicholls is "strongly considering" running Kauto Star in the Hennessy Gold Cup. The two-times Cheltenham Gold Cup winner is set to make his eagerly-awaited seasonal reappearance at Down Royal on Saturday. And if all goes well, a tilt at the big Newbury feature on November 27 now appears likely. Writing in his Betfair blog, Nicholls said on Monday: "I can reveal that we are now "strongly considering" running Kauto Star in the Hennessy providing Down Royal goes to plan at the weekend. "If he runs well on Saturday, then owner Clive Smith is of the opinion that there is no use wrapping them in cotton wool at their age and fancies a crack at the Hennessy. And I am not at all against it." Kauto Star is set to bid for a fifth consecutive King George victory at Kempton on Boxing Day, and Nicholls is confident his stable star would have enough time to recover from the Hennessy. He added: "And if he runs at Down Royal, Newbury, Kempton and then goes straight to the Gold Cup, that is only four runs this season." Nicholls stressed that everything must go according to plan at Down Royal, but re-iterated: "All being well, Clive is up for the challenge - we have always been flexible about the horse's campaigns, and in 2006 we won the Tingle Creek and King George after winning the Betfair Chase - and I for one will not stand in his way. Kauto Star is in great form and, at this stage, we are strongly considering running him in the Hennessy." Coral reacted to Monday's news by introducing Kauto Star into their Hennessy betting at 8-1. Stablemate Denman is 4-1 favourite to complete a hat-trick of wins in the race, with Weird Al next at 7-1. "It would be fantastic to see Kauto Star join his stablemate Denman in the Hennessy line-up, but at this stage we would strongly favour the former to fly the flag for team Ditcheat, and are happy to offer Kauto Star at twice the price of Denman," said spokesman David Stevens.
