Nicholls confident with Kauto Paul Nicholls is confident the testing conditions at Haydock on Saturday will not be a problem for Kauto Star when he makes his eagerly-anticipated return in the Betfair Chase. The dual Gold Cup hero has been off the track since securing the second of his Cheltenham crowns, and will be chasing a third success in this weekend's Grade One following victories in 2006 and 2007. He parted company with Sam Thomas at the final fence in last year's renewal, however, when victory was far from assured. But Nicholls feels his charge is in much better form this time. He said: "People talk about this race last year but there really is no comparison as I shouldn't have run him that day, having already been to Down Royal. This year he is fresh and ready to go. "We're very happy with him and he isn't like Master Minded, who needed the run at Cheltenham last week. "I suppose you never know how much they will need the run until they actually go, but we are very pleased with where he is at the moment." Although much of the country has been hit by torrential rain, Haydock appears to have escaped the worst of it, with just two millimetres of overnight rain on Thursday. Kauto Star has won on soft ground on five occasions since joining the champion trainer, who warned it would be folly to write him off on Merseyside. Nicholls added: "They've only had the two millimetres of rain overnight and obviously it's going to be soft ground. "But I don't think it will be too different to how it was when he won at Down Royal last season."
