Current Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite Kauto Star suffered defeat on his first start of the season, his first defeat since falling in the 2006 Champion Chase. Monet’s Garden beat last year’s Gold Cup winner by 1 1/2 length but the winner was in receipt of a full 14 lbs which means Kauto Star emerges as by far the best horse in the race.

Kauto Star was expected to come on for the run but didn’t travel as smoothly as usual and had to be pushed along at half way to keep up with his rivals. It is far too early to be writing him off and it will be interesting to see how he travels in his next outing.

Kauto Star remains the favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and is a stand out price of 5/2 with Sportingbet.

The winner deserves plenty of credit as the trainer suggested he would not only improve for this outing but probably the next one as well. He has already proved himself an Aintree specialist with three wins at the course and is one to consider for the Grand National Festival rather than the Cheltenham Festival.

Last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup runner up, Exotic Dancer, completely failed to run his race finishing 20 lengths behind the favourite. He has always needed his seasonal reappearance and much better can be expected next time out. He remains very much a challenger for Kauto Star’s crown and it should be noted that Paddy Power go 10/1 about him improving on last season’s second.