Thomas has weekend to forget after Kauto slip up

(MARTIN RICKETT/PA)

Only now, perhaps, will Sam Thomas fully comprehend his good fortune last year. On the anniversary of the breakthrough that ultimately qualified him to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup itself, he returned over the weekend to the same courses, to ride the same horses, in the same races. Once again, he owed his opportunity to the absence of Ruby Walsh, stable jockey to Paul Nicholls. But whereas things could not possibly have gone better 12 months ago, this time round Thomas limped away bruised in both body and soul.

True, he again gave Mr Pointment a fine ride over the big fences at Aintree yesterday, but they could not catch Black Apalachi in the Totesport Becher Chase. Indeed, Mr Pointment was so exhausted on the run-in that he had pulled himself up to a walk when overtaken by Oulart; with an admirable show of spirit, however, he promptly picked up again and retrieved second close home.

Thomas had himself shown plenty of pluck in taking the mount at all, having been flung unceremoniously over the Chair when another big fancy, Gwanako, refused earlier in the afternoon. But it was that kind of weekend all round for Thomas and Nicholls, the nadir having come at Haydock on Saturday, when Kauto Star slipped and unseated after jumping the last in the Betfair Chase.

If Kauto Star was going to win at all, it was going to be pretty ugly. But Nicholls was sufficiently goaded by those who perceived an incipient decline to forget decorum when interviewed live by the BBC yesterday. "Absolute bullshit," he exclaimed. "I mean, I've never heard such rubbish. We should be enjoying horses like this, not bloody knocking them all the time. The sooner people realise they can't win every time, and that it's a horserace, they're not machines, the better."

A very fair point, but Kauto Star has always brought out the most defensive side in his trainer. He is candid in his adoration for the horse, recently confessing that the morning after the Gold Cup – where his other champion, Denman, had usurped Kauto Star – he watched the replay with tears in his eyes.

Through more objective ones, however, it is certainly fair to ask why Kauto Star should now have been beaten in three of his last four starts. In his younger days, of course, he was notorious for uncannily identifying the last fence by hitting it, but this time he merely lost his footing on landing. He had made a real hash of the third last, however, and did not seem to be extending with his usual freedom thereafter.

Happily Nicholls reported him unscathed yesterday. The horse had looked back to his best on his reappearance at Down Royal, and Nicholls feasibly suggested that he might now be best after a break. The plan now is duly to give him nearly three months off after the Stan James King George VI Chase on Boxing Day.

"Sometimes horses are better off with a big gallop, fresh off the back of a lot of work, rather than running and not doing so much between runs," Nicholls said. "That's why we're going fresh to the Gold Cup after Kempton, and now I've got five weeks to get him back to his best."

Walsh, recuperating after the removal of his spleen nine days ago, hopes to be back by then. "Ruby knows the horse better than anybody," Nicholls said. "He's ridden him 17 or 18 times, Sam's only ridden him once [before Saturday]. He's still learning about the horse. It's easy to make judgements afterwards, to say he should have done this or that. But he probably would have won."

Matters did not improve for Nicholls when Officier De Reserve, favourite for a valuable steeplechase at Navan, was hampered and forced through the rails, when still going well, five fences out. Notre Pere took advantage, in the process earning quotes of 33-1 from VC Bet and William Hill for the John Smith's Grand National. The latter firm also make him a 12-1 chance for the Welsh National at Chepstow on 27 December – a race his trainer, Jim Dreaper, is considering. Dreaper said: "He'll go for either the Paddy Power at Leopardstown or the Welsh National next."

But it was Black Apalachi who produced the more relevant Aintree rehearsal, jumping flamboyantly in the lead. He will again be trained for the big one by Dessie Hughes, albeit he did not make much of an impression last April. Hughes was represented by his son, Richard. "He cart-wheeled at the second fence in the National," he recalled. "They were going flat to the boards, and he couldn't get the landing gear out in time. This is a good trial for the National, but he would need the ground soft, as he's an out-and-out stayer."

Hughes Jnr has just finished a brilliant season on the Flat, finishing second in the championship, but has always loved jump racing and rode a hurdler for his father later on the card. Sadly, he was tailed off when pulling up. As he might well tell Thomas, life is a lot easier for jockeys when they don't put great big fences in the way.

Chris McGrath

Nap: Merrydown(Ayr 2.10)

NB: Seize (Ludlow 1.20)