FORMER Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Kauto Star will face five rivals in the £225,000 Betfair Chase at Haydock Park Racecourse on Saturday.

He is odds-on with the bookmakers to win the steeplechase for the third year in a row.

The three-mile race is the highlight of the two-day Northwest Racing Masters which is staged at Haydock Park on Saturday and Aintree Racecourse on Sunday.

Since the inception of the showpiece meeting in 2005, the opening day has attracted Haydock Park's biggest jump racing crowd of the season - and the racecourse is poised to welcome 10,000 visitors again on Saturday.

Jockey Sam Thomas deputises on Kauto Star for the injured Ruby Walsh for the second year.

The star steeplechaser is opposed by, among others, Cloudy Lane who is trained in Cheshire by Donald McCain jnr, while the mount of Champion Jockey Tony McCoy is Exotic Dancer who chased home Kauto Star 12 months ago.

In other formal declarations of runners today, 16 horses will take part in the £100,000 Betfair "Fixed Brush" Handicap Hurdle.

Declarations for the other five races will be made on Friday morning, when the Wigan-based Tote bookmaker will also confirm the six races across Britain which will form the record-breaking £4 million plus Scoop6 bet on Saturday afternoon.

The first race time at Haydock Park on Saturday 22 November is at 12.30pm.

*Admission: Newton Enclosure £10, Tattersalls £20, County Enclosure £34, and Premier Enclosure £45. Accompanied children aged under 16 enter free. Senior citizens and students, with appropriate identification, enter Tattersalls and the Newton Enclosure at half price.