Memorabilia from record-breaking racehorse on sale

Memorabilia celebrating the success of a record-breaking Somerset-trained racehorse is going under the hammer.

Kauto Star, who was trained by Paul Nicholls in Ditcheat, won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice and the King George V Chase at Kempton in Surrey five times.

Items from the estate of the racehorse's late owner, Clive Smith, who died in October 2024 at the age of 82, will be be sold by Charterhouse Auctioneers in Sherborne on Wednesday.

Richard Bromell, director of the auction house, described the collection as a "real insight" into Smith's ownership. It includes trophies from Kauto Star's career, including the 2007 Horse of the Year award and a winner's plate from Haydock Park.

There are also oil paintings of jockey Ruby Walsh, as well as Smith and Nicholls with the horse, plus collections of photographs and certificates.

Bromell said: "We can have people come into the auction who probably don't normally go to auctions, but they've heard about this, they've read about it - they fancy a little bit of Kauto Star.

"That's the whole purpose of coming to auction, to get as many people interested as we possibly can."

Kauto Star won 23 of his 41 races and became the first horse to regain the Cheltenham Gold Cup after losing it in 2008.

The horse was retired from racing in 2012 and went on to compete in dressage before being put down in 2015 at the age of 15 after a serious fall in his paddock.

Nicholls said at the time of the death: "Kauto was such a big part of that team. We'll never have one as good as him. He touched a lot of hearts."

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