Kauto Star (picture) is only “fifty-fifty” to run in this month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup after a fall, trainer Paul Nicholls said.

Nicholls said his dual Gold Cup winner, a huge favourite with British punters, has taken a tumble while being schooled by jockey Ruby Walsh at Nicholls’s Ditcheat yard in Somerset, last week.

“There is no easy way to say this, but Kauto Star is only fifty-fifty to make the Cheltenham Gold Cup after a fall schooling,” Nicholls said.

“As a trainer, it is all too easy to sit on information when it comes to your horses,” added Nicholls, whose yard is not far from the south-west town of Cheltenham.

“But, in my opinion, the public have a right to know. In many ways, he is as much theirs, as (owner) Clive Smith’s and ours. So, I am sad to report that his participation in Cheltenham is in doubt.

Kauto Star had been second-favourite for the Gold Cup behind last year’s winner Long Run after beating the reigning champion twice this season.

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