Racing:All 11 horses from the original 48-hour declaration stage for Saturday's rearranged King George VI Chase at Kempton remain as possible runners but all eyes are on Kauto Star who is bidding for a fifth win.
Sam Waley-Cohen, on board second favourite Long Run’s Rider, believes if Kauto Star is on song then he will be “almost unbeatable”.
"I think if Kauto's on his best form then he's going to take a hell of a lot of beating," he said. "We've been watching Kauto's races over and over again looking for chinks in his armour and it's very hard to identify something.
"Having said that, Long Run has an enormous engine and everything he is doing at home gives us a lot of encouragement, but there's no doubt at all that Kauto on his day is almost unbeatable."
There will be at least one change in personnel as Tom Scudamore has been ruled out with a kidney injury meaning the ride on David Pipe's Madison du Berlais at Kempton is up for grabs.
"A decision regarding Madison Du Berlais will be made later in the week, when the owners return from holiday," said Pipe.
Robert Thornton looks like being on board Forpadydeplasterer unless something untoward happens to Barry Geraghty's mount Riverside Theatre.
"I've discussed it with Alan (King) this morning, it's looking likely that I'll be able to take the ride and I'm really looking forward to that," said Thornton. "The argument says he keeps running into one too good and I think you'd probably settle for second again. He'd run well to finish second."
Forpadydeplasterer's trainer Tom Cooper is concerned about the prospect of steady rain all week. "It's still the plan to travel over, I've just got to worry about the ground now, there's a lot of rain forecast," Cooper said.
"Soft ground is something we could do without considering he's trying three miles for the first time. It's just one thing after another. We've had no problem with keeping on the move since Christmas, he won't get beaten for lack of fitness.
"I presume the riding plans are the same unless Barry Geraghty became available for some unforeseen reason. I just need to confirm with Dave Roberts (agent). Hopefully the ground won't get too deep, and it is fresh ground too that hasn't been raced on since February.
"The travelling won't be a worry at least, he's used to all that now, he's pretty unflappable."
Geraghty also has some ground concerns for his mount, but Riverside Theatre does at least have some good course form to fall back on.
"He's good round Kempton. He'll handles most grounds but if it's too soft he'll have to try to cope with it," he said. "It's a track where I suppose you just want a horse that travels and has a good cruising speed."