Who will strike gold at Cheltenham?

Like heavyweight boxers with titles and egos to preserve, they have circled each other all winter, the sparring and jabbing left to their friendly owners. Remarkably — for such duels seldom eventuate in this fickle sport — they have arrived at the match made in racing heaven with their reputations polished to a sheen.

It was on this day a year ago that thousands of devotees left Cheltenham pondering the potential of a Gold Cup that pitted Kauto Star against Denman. Such an enticing prospect, the silky champion against the bullying young pretender, but few genuinely believed it would happen. Too much can go wrong in 12 months.

Yet Denman has never missed a beat, adding three further wins to his unbeaten record over fences, while the only clouds over Kauto Star came with defeat at Aintree in October and an overnight injury scare last month. Both concerns were swiftly dispelled. The horses arrive at the totesport Gold Cup today with no evident negatives, testament to their mighty constitutions and to the ceaseless ministrations of the man who trains them.

Paul Nicholls is not just a champion trainer but a man who recognises the value of public relations and embraces it ardently, even when the most fevered build-up to a Gold Cup for generations focuses exclusively on his domain. Never one to shirk a question or an interview, he will for once seek utter privacy when the tapes rise today.

Nicholls, who fields two further runners among such possible party poopers as Exotic Dancer and Halcon Genelardais, would have been the ideal ambassador for this contest even without the generous spicing from owners, jockeys, head lads and stable lasses that has given us a human narrative to savour.

Jim Lewis knows a bit about Gold Cup nerves, having owned the triple winner, Best Mate. Yesterday, he observed the owners of the new protagonists and observed: “I know they won’t be sleeping well, and that in every waking hour they can only see their own horse. All they are doing now is trying to reassure themselves.”

Harry Findlay, who owns half of Denman, seemed to be doing the opposite. “The weather has changed and Denman won’t be going off favourite now,” he explained. “I’ve taken on Kauto on the strength of the forecast but I’ll be getting out of it — I’ll have no liabilities on him.” As steady rain returned late yesterday, he was doubtless revising his position again,

If Findlay has cornered more than his share of the publicity, it was an inevitability. Findlay is everyone’s favourite caricature of the flamboyant, fearless punter who has lived life on the tightrope. Occasionally he has fallen off, taken a bruising, then continued undeterred.

For Findlay, who has long maintained that this could be the first and only time these horses meet, betting is his raison d’être. In an excited winner’s enclosure, after Denman’s dismissive win in the Aon Chase, Findlay was making a loud phone call getting as much as he could on Middlesbrough to beat Fulham.

Paul Barber, the other half of racing’s odd couple, is not concerned about odds or bets. As landlord to the trainer and resident in the house next to the Ditcheat yard, he is the constant, caring stable patron. When Kauto Star returned from Ascot with his Gold Cup hopes in jeopardy, Barber was the first person to arrive, begging the vets to get him to Cheltenham despite the fact that his own Gold Cup prospects would have doubled in his absence.

It is, paradoxically, this lack of edgy rivalry that is the greatest virtue and the single drawback of a captivating tale. Everyone is being so nice about each other that the essential tenets of sporting opposition are scarcely being observed. Some might regard it as a cup final between Manchester United and Manchester United Reserves.

There is more than enough, though, to compensate. Some have portrayed the horses in the image of their owners — Denman the streetfighter, Kauto the laidback gentleman — but that is too simplistic. Just as there is more to Clive Smith than geniality, so there is much more to his horse than a kind temperament and a tendency to fall asleep on his owner’s shoulder.

At Haydock in November, Kauto Star showed his ability to grind out a win on testing ground. Stamina is not an issue. At Ascot last month, he laughed at the best two-and-a-half milers around. Speed is a forte.

Ruby Walsh, who won the Champion Chase yesterday on Smith’s latest star, Master Minded, had no real decision when he chose between these enviable rides. Until such a brilliant champion is beaten, why desert him?

It could be that Sam Thomas, who has grown in stature with every month of his defining season as the supersub, will benefit from having had no choice. Certainly, he has suited Denman’s front-running style admirably and can be expected to set a searching pace. It is how Kauto Star responds that will decide whether this becomes the greatest of Gold Cups, or just the most hyped.