Alan King opened his doors to give a horse-by-horse guide to his team for the 2011 Cheltenham Festival.
Dave Ord visited Alan King's Barbury Castle stables on Tuesday for the trainer's media day ahead of the 2011 Cheltenham Festival next month. Here King gives us the lowdown on his main hopes for big-race honours at Prestbury Park
Medermit He hasn't done a whole lot since Sandown but he's due to do his first bit of work tomorrow. He's in good order and we'll be looking to build him up with a couple of schooling sessions shortly. He'll head straight to the Arkle Challenge Trophy - we've scrapped the Jewson entry - and I think he ticks a lot of the right boxes. He's got a high cruising speed, the strong gallop will suit him in the race and he's proven that he has the stamina to win it. His jumping seems to be progressing with each race as well. We're very excited about him and just hope that we can get him to Cheltenham in the same form as he was at Sandown. Mille Chief One or two people thought he had a hard race at Wincanton but I'd disagree. Yes, "Choc" had to get stuck into him, but it was only after the last hurdle. It's the first proper battle that he's had on the track but he's taken it very, very well, and I think the match practice will have done him lots of good. We're under no illusions with him - he still has a lot to find to become a realistic Champion Hurdle player - but we'll go down that route. He's yet to race on good ground but I can assure you that he'll be a much better horse when he gets it - he's a very good-actioned horse with lots of speed - and all the soft ground did the other day was blunt that asset. I think he's very good, he's progressive and I've had a lovely clear run with him all season, but I think that run will just put him spot on. We're delighted with him - his jumping's very slick as well which is another asset - and we can't wait to run him in the Champion Hurdle. Smad Place He was very impressive on his first start for me at Newbury, beating one of Paul Nicholls. He's not a horse that shows us an awful lot of home so he surprised me that day - he was very impressive. We had a few issues with him afterwards, he scoped dirty a couple of times and we had to a miss a couple of engagements, and although we got him to the Finale at Chepstow we had to nurse him there and he was far from 100%. He still ran a very good race and the form of that is working out very well. He was due to go to Cheltenham at the end of January but again he was wrong but he's pleased us in the last couple of weeks. He did everything asked of him at Wincanton - it wasn't a strong race but the first two drew miles clear of the rest. That didn't tell us anything we didn't know in terms of his ability but it confirmed his well-being and he's come out of the race fine. He'll head straight to the JCB Triumph Hurdle and whilst I'd be concerned if the ground came up quick by the Friday, he is such a strong-travelling and straightforward horse that I'd be confident of a good run. Bensalem Ran well on Saturday at Haydock in atrocious ground. He probably got there too soon as he's a horse who only really has one finishing run. We ended up getting dragged into a real slog which wouldn't have suited but it was still a good run. He was a very sick horse in the autumn and he's done well to get back on the track. It (the Haydock run) has made our decision a bit easier and he definitely won't go for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle now - he's in the Festival Chase and the Byrne Group handicap - if it came up testing ground I'd certainly be happy to run him over two miles five furlongs. He was travelling very well when coming down two out last year, and is off the same mark. He hasn't seen a fence this year but we'll do lots of schooling with him and give him a gallop on the point-to-point-course in about 10 days' time. I think he retains all of his ability and I do think you'll see the proper Bensalem at Cheltenham. Salden Licht He was brought down in the totesport Trophy at Newbury when just getting into the race - he was staying on very well. I think he would have been very close to them on Friday as one thing he does do is stay. It was a very rough race even though the field was smaller than the original entry - it got very rough leaving the back stretch and turning in and he was one of the worst sufferers. He suffered a few little cuts but nothing more than that. He's still got an entry in the Champion Hurdle but I think that's unlikely and he'll probably run in the County Hurdle .Obviously off his mark of 158 he'll be right up the top of the handicap, which will be tough, but there's not a lot else for him at the moment. Walkon He disappointed us at Newbury but I think it was just the "bounce factor" - he looked in trouble around halfway. He's come out of the race wonderfully well and whilst he's not certain to head to Cheltenham, he does have entries in the County Hurdle and Coral Cup. It's just possible that he does need two-and-a-half miles these days - the Ascot run was 2m3f - and he wouldn't be the first Triumph horse to need a step up in trip. If we think Cheltenham will come too soon then we'll skip it and head to Aintree - but I just felt that he deserved the entries. He's come out of the race bouncing and I still believe that he's a very good horse. Sir Harry Ormesher He hasn't been out for some time - he had a little setback before Christmas but he's absolutely fine now, in very good form. He has two options - the Coral Cup and the Pertemps handicap hurdle. I'm not sure which way we'll go yet. Ideally he'd want good ground - if it did come up soft then we'd probably skip Cheltenham. He ran very well in the Coral Cup last season - he came from a long way back. He's a talented horse, it won't be a problem if he went there fresh, and I might even put some ear-plugs in with him. Kumbeshwar He won at Sandown on his hurdling debut. He was a very tough horse on the flat, winning three times in 10 days for David Evans before we bought him. He ran a blinder to finish third in the Victor Ludorum, which I think was a very strong juvenile race. The handicapper has given him a mark of 133 this morning and if he's going to run in the Fred Winter then he'll have to run again this weekend in order to qualify so I've given him an entry at Kempton. He seems fine at the minute - we haven't done much with him yet - but he's pretty tough so there's every likelihood that he'll run. He does have an entry in the Triumph and if he ran exceptionally well at Kempton then we do have that option. We might put a pair of blinkers on him just to sharpen him up, as he did wear a visor on the flat. Habbie Simpson An impressive novice - winning his first two at Wetherby and Warwick. He's bumped into Bobs Worth on his last two starts, finishing third on both occasions. I was hoping that Bobs Worth was going to run in the Neptune Novices' Hurdle and that we'd go for the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle but the vibes from Mr Henderson's camp is that he's going to step up in trip. He'd be tough to beat but our horse deserves to take his chance and he'll go there fresh and well. He doesn't seem to mind the ground, and whilst he's likely to run well, I'd be worried that he'll find one or two too good. The Betchworth Kid This little lad's been called all sorts of names - enigmatic is a polite one! He was placed in lots of the big handicaps on the Flat and ran a blinder in the totesport Trophy at Newbury, beaten under a length-and-a-half into fourth. He holds entries in both the County Hurdle and Coral Cup - it's debatable which would suit him best but in my opinion a strongly-run race over two miles is probably what he wants. He's come out of Newbury very well and one of these days he'll win a big handicap - but trying to predict which one is hard to say! Oh CrickA previous Festival winner, he's just been coming gradually back to form - he always takes a couple of runs in the autumn just to come to himself. I was very happy with him at Sandown the other day where he finished third and I haven't run him again as a I want to protect his handicap mark. He's only 2lbs higher than when he won the Red Rum Handicap Chase at Aintree and I think he could run very well in the Grand Annual. Spring ground really suits him and I certainly think he retains all of his ability. He didn't win last year because he wasn't quite good enough to take on the best at level weights - he was fifth in the Queen Mother though. We're just stepping his work up again and he's in very good form. Blazing Bailey We nearly retired him on several occasions. We haven't done anything different with him this year but he just seems to have come back to himself and he's not far off his very best. He won at the Cheltenham meeting and then at Ffos Las and he's in the Festival handicap. He'd need soft ground if he's to take up that engagement. He's creeping back up in the weights - into the mid 150's - but it's just been a delight for everyone at the yard to see him back to his best. Jetnova I had said at Wincanton on Saturday that we'd probably skip Cheltenham but I've left him in the Albert Bartlett and put him in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' handicap this morning. He's been raised 8lbs to 136 having won three this year. His only disappointing run was at Warwick on heavy ground - he's by Luso and they tend to like good ground - and "Choc" (Robert Thornton, jockey) said that he was hating the going and won despite the ground on Saturday. On decent ground he could run very well and I might let him take his chance - I haven't decided which race yet though. But he's an interesting horse and he certainly shouldn't be underestimated. Shalone Another horse coming back from injury, like Walkon, and he ran in the same race at Ascot a month ago. I wouldn't say he "bounced" when he ran on Saturday but he probably wasn't quite at his best. That run should put him spot on. He holds entries in the Coral Cup and Martin Pipe handicap and if he pleases us then he'll head for one of those. He seems to have taken the run particularly well. Call Me A Legend She disappointed at Sandown the other day - she found two miles on good ground way too quick for her. We've decided to skip the Grand Annual and she'll have an entry in the Byrne Group handicap over 2m5f instead. She won very well at Warwick the time before last, has only had five runs over fences, and Cheltenham would almost certainly be her last run before she heads off the paddocks. She's on a mark of 133 and the step up in trip will suit her well. Ravethebrave He will head to the Centenary Novices' handicap and if he gets in he'll be on a mark of 128 which would probably be touch and go. He won well earlier in the season, before unfortunately falling at the first at Cheltenham. He put that run behind him with a second at Kempton the other day - that was over three miles and he just didn't see it out all the way - he looks a real 2m6f horse to me. I hope he sneaks into the race as he's quite capable of running a big race - he's been placed around Cheltenham before. Dhaafer He's in the Fred Winter - again though his mark of 119 is borderline as to whether he'll get in. So I'm going to run him at Warwick on Friday where hopefully he'll run well and get raised a few pounds. He won at Warwick on his previous start and he's a straightforward horse. He was with William Haggas on the Flat, has progressed well over hurdles and he stays very well. He won't wear blinkers on Friday but might wear them in the Fred Winter just to sharpen him up a little bit and if he got in the race then he'd be at the right end of the weights and he'd run okay. Pantxoa He'll have an entry in the Fred Winter and he was unlucky to bump into a proper horse of Mr Henderson's - A Media Luz - at Sandown the other day. Trying to give her 10lbs was impossible but he ran well enough. He's not certain to run but we'll have a look at the race. He's won twice but he's a very highly-strung horse - we ran him in earplugs at Huntingdon and he was much better, much more relaxed. He's certain to get into the race off a mark of 129 and if he works well before the Festival then he'll probably run. Bygones In Brid He ran in the bumper at Newbury, finishing second to Ericht who I know Nicky Henderson thinks very highly of. He won his bumper at Musselburgh when trained by Karen McLintock and we then bought him at the Hennessy meeting, at the sales that evening. My big worry at Newbury was whether he would settle but he switched off very well and came through to challenge. He was still a little green there but I think it was very strong bumper form and we'll see how he trains - but if he pleases us then there's every chance he'll run in the Champion Bumper.