Henderson looks forward to King George rematch Long Run's beaten connections set aside their personal disappointment to pay tribute to the great Kauto Star at Haydock yesterday and eye another crack at their rival on St Stephen's Day. Trainer Nicky Henderson and jockey Sam Waley-Cohen were magnanimous and far from despondent in defeat, after Kauto Star had silenced calls for his retirement at the age of 11 with a vintage performance to win his fourth Betfair Chase by eight lengths. Long Run, victorious against third-placed Kauto Star on the way to Gold Cup glory at Cheltenham last March, had no answer as Paul Nicholls' evergreen superstar took no prisoners with an exuberant front-running display and still had the energy to repel all challengers up the straight. Henderson believes his six-year-old, also defeated on his seasonal debut last season in Cheltenham's Paddy Power Gold Cup, will again improve on fitness grounds. First, though, he made a point of striding through the crowds in the winner's enclosure to offer his own congratulations to Kauto Star's trainer Nicholls. He then added of the dual Gold Cup and four-time King George VI winner: "I'm delighted to see that horse back. It's going to make it all to play for now. "It's great for racing, just disappointing to get beaten obviously. "But we've got time to get our own back." Long Run's first opportunity to do that seems sure to come in next month's King George. The horse owned by Waley-Cohen's father Robert appeared to signal a changing of the guard among the top staying chasers when he beat Kauto Star into third in the delayed staging of last season's race at Kempton. "I suspect we'll be meeting again at Christmas, don't you? That's all we can do," said Henderson. As for Long Run's defeat, he said: "It was disappointing he came off the bridle [before the straight]. "He jumped great until a couple of errors crept in there, and all of a sudden he wasn't going as well as he should have been. But in fairness, he stayed on very well from there. "There's no doubt it's going to have done him good. "As I've just said to Robert, it's slightly like his first run last year. "He jumped very well, apart from a couple of silly errors - and we've got a run into him." Long Run's jockey echoed the sentiments of his trainer. "It was first time out, and Kauto Star is a great horse - if there is any horse you wanted to come second to it was Kauto Star," said Waley-Cohen. "We are proud of Long Run. He has got beaten by a great horse, and there is a lot of the season left. The World Cup and the Olympics are still to come. "Down the back he was finding it hard enough to lay up there, and that was probably where the chips were being laid down."
