A P McCoy exclusive

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."