bet365 Gold Cup: "Freak" Kitty's Light up for big-race double

Christian Williams has hailed the remarkable Kitty’s Light for “picking everybody up” with an emotional Scottish Grand National victory last weekend and the trainer now bids to complete a rare big-race double with his remarkable chaser with victory in the feature bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown Park on Saturday.

Despite just a seven-day turnaround, Williams hopes that his stable star can see to some “unfinished business” in the big race after second and third-placed finishes in recent years and become the first horse since Hot Weld (2007) to win this contest after Coral Scottish Grand National glory.

Reflecting on the big event at Ayr and an emotional success after the recent diagnosis of trainer's five-year-old daughter Betsy with leukaemia, Williams said: “It was a wonderful, wonderful day. It’s been a tough few weeks here for everyone - for my wife Charlotte, all my family and friends and my owners.

“It’s been tough but Kitty has been a flagship horse here for the last two years and winning the Scottish National was a massive boost for everyone, so it was a very emotional day.”

Asked about Betsy he added: “It’s a tricky one really as she’s obviously not very well, but from what she’s been through over the last six weeks she’s as good as you could have hoped.

“She’s in good hands and we’re lucky with where we are. We have a wonderful children’s hospital in Cardiff called Noah’s Ark and we’re very lucky. We need plenty of luck now and we’re in a good place for the position we’re in.

“I’m just lucky to be involved in this sport and to see the joy that horses can bring to people. The weekend is just one situation of what the horse has done for us when he picked everyone up – and not just my family, but friends and owners and everyone was thinking of us. It was a wonderful day and it was all down to Kitty’s Light - he’s a wonderful horse.”

This weekend’s £160,000 Premier Handicap boasts a field of 18 after today’s declarations, with the likes of Grade One winner Frodon, as well as the 2021 third Enrilo and improving pair Annsam and Mucho Mas set to line up.

Williams reports his charge to be in fine fettle ahead of the weekend with sponsor bet365 rating Kitty’s Light as the 4-1 favourite for the 3m 5f contest.

“We understand the task he has but the horse seems very well and has come out of the Scottish Grand National very well. All of my staff but especially Nikki, Harriet and Ellie, as well as Jack (Tudor) who rides him, have done a fantastic job and we think he’s very well.

“You never really know until you run them but Jack is riding him and he knows the horse better than anyone. Jack will take a view throughout the race knowing the horse so well and see how he’s going.

“We’ve definitely got unfinished business in the bet365 Gold Cup. I’d have probably almost targeted this rather than the Scottish National but the owners wanted to go there after having a wonderful time in Scotland the year before and that’s a very prestigious race as well.

“It’s nothing to do with this decision to run, but we’ve definitely got unfinished business. There’s a lovely board for the roll of honour at Sandown and we feel that Kitty’s Light’s name should be up on that board for two years ago. But he’s not there, so it would be great to do that.

“It looked like he was better than ever at the weekend. He jumped and travelled well. I always think he runs okay at Sandown as well - Paul Nicholls thought he should have won the race (with Enrilo in 2021) when they reversed the result and we thought we should have won it too!

“He then finished third last year too behind Hewick, so he seems to run well around the track. He loves this type of ground and this time of year so we’re trying to be positive going into the race and took the view with his health at home and how fresh he is that it was worth declaring him.

“If Jack couldn’t ride him on the weekend, if he was banned or he had to go somewhere else, we probably wouldn’t have run. Jack knows him very well and he rides him a lot at home, so we think he’s in good order.”

Williams added that Kitty’s Light has been eased back in to his work since victory last Saturday, explaining: “He went out in the field on Sunday morning and galloped off like a lunatic! He did the same on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and we’ve only sat on him for the first time this morning.

“He had a small trot and he’ll probably go down to the beach tomorrow for just a steady blow in the sand and then go in the sea for 15-20 minutes after that. He seems in good order from what he’s showing us but you never actually know until you run, when it will go into Jack’s hands then.

“A few people have said the race has cut up a little bit, but you try and win these races! It will be a strong race and Paul Nicholls is throwing plenty at it. He’s a tough man to beat but we enjoy trying to test ourselves against them and it will be a great challenge for us on Saturday.

“It would be brilliant if we could do it. The Scottish National was obviously his main target this year after the Eider Chase and we’ve been thinking about the horse all this week. It wasn’t about the prize money or the race or anything else, just whether he thought Kitty’s Light was in good shape.”

Kitty’s Light has already enjoyed a season to remember this term, also winning the valuable Eider Chase at Newcastle in February amongst his seven starts.

Williams concluded: “He’s just a freak really. With his size he’d be the last horse you’d pick out as one you’d want to own or run in a four-mile chase, but he defies all those things. He defies his size, his stature and his pedigree, so he’s just a freak really.

“I think the only negative going into this is that he only won the Scottish National a week ago, but he’s freakish for a horse. The way he comes out of his races, you’ll never have seen anything like it.

“Basically, you could nearly run him in the next race as he recovers so quickly so there’s something inside him. I’m not sure if he’s got big lungs or a big heart but there’s something in him that’s different to any other horses that we’ve run. It’s more of a jumping test on Saturday but for some reason he relishes it.

“It just shows the luck you need. Kitty’s Light was bought from a Flat sale as a yearling with a strong Flat pedigree. He’s now running in four-mile chases and doing himself proud.

“It’s a big Saturday race for us, much like the Scottish National, and it’s the type of race that we try and win. We’ve been lucky over the last couple of years that we’ve had a small pool of horses capable of running in those types of races and I’m just lucky to have this horse.

“He loves fast ground and I think that’s the key to him, his jumping stands up then. I don’t know how he won at Newcastle, he didn’t jump one fence and still won the race, so it goes to show that there’s something a bit different inside of him.”