Tony McCoy has hailed Kauto Star’s victory in the King George VI Chase as “the best I’ve seen from a chaser” – and thinks Denman’s Gold Cup hopes hinge on the ground being soft.

Speaking exclusively on Betfred Talk, the 14-time champion jockey expects Kauto Star to win a third Cheltenham Gold Cup in four years – and the decider with his stable companion – unless the mud is flying.

Asked if the Gold Cup will effectively be a match between the two Paul Nicholls-trained superstars, McCoy said: “There are definitely only two runners. I think after Kauto’s performance at Kempton he has raised the bar again.

“So in my opinion, brilliant though Denman’s Hennessy performance was, he will need Cheltenham to be pretty testing to win the Gold Cup. I think Kauto’s performance at Kempton was the best I’ve seen from a chaser and that if all goes well he will be very hard to beat.”

Although McCoy rode five winners at the post-Christmas meetings at Leopardstown, Chepstow and Newbury, it was not all plain sailing for himself and his employer, owner J P McManus.

“We’ve had a few disappointments over Christmas,” admitted McCoy. “Bellvano and more so Binocular were disappointing at Kempton. But I still hold out hope that Binocular will get back to the peak form he showed last season at Cheltenham. If he does, I don’t think he’ll be very far away in the Champion Hurdle.

“Captain Cee Bee looked like he was going to win at Leopardstown and could be a very smart chaser. Hopefully he will be aimed at the Arkle if he’s okay.

“And Quantitativeeasing won nicely at Newbury and hopefully will make into a horse for one of the Cheltenham novice hurdles.”