Alan King looks ahead to the Cheltenham Festival as he assembles another strong team.
Medermit could surprise a few in Champion Hurdle
The master of Barbury Castle Alan King held a Cheltenham preview open day and sportinglife.com was on hand to talk to the top trainer.
SATICON AND SIR HARRY ORMESHER
Both are possibles for the Coral Cup. They ran recently at Doncaster with Sir Harry Ormesher an impressive winner coming from the back of the field. He will definitely run in the race while Saticon will also get an entry in the Martin Pipe. Saticon finished fourth to Sir Harry at Doncaster and the ground will have been plenty soft enough for both that day. If it was still very soft then they may be a doubt but good or good to soft they would take their chance.
LAKE LEGEND
The Coral Cup has been his plan all the way through and he has a very good record for us having won four out of six, including his last two. He is just starting back in strong work and is very straightforward who handles most types of ground.
NENUPHAR COLLONGES
Has not run since the Hennessy as his mid-season target was abandoned. He has to wear blinkers but he is very genuine and goes to the Festival fresh which is good. He goes on all sorts of ground ane is sure to run his usual game race in the William Hill Chase.
CAUSEWAY KING
Won on his debut and has been second on his three subsequent starts. On each occasion he has bumped into a pretty decent horse and he will be up at the top of the weights for the Fred Winter so should definitely get in. He is a proper stayer and the stronger gallop will suit him down to the ground and I do think he has got a realistic chance in the race. He goes straight there and won't run again.
AWESOME GEORGE
Has been a little off colour at home and has not been pleasing me. He has not run for some and if he is buzzing again then he could be suited best by the Jewson as I feel he may better at two and half miles.
WHISTLE JACQUET
Has an entry in the both the Supreme and the Neptune Investments and has only had the one run over hurdles as he came back in pretty late and won at Taunton. My gut feeling is that Cheltenham may come too soon this year. He is due to go to Sandown on Friday and is a pretty talented horse.
TARATINO
The Byrne Group Handicap would be his target and he has not had his ground all season, he is a good-going horse. He finished last season on a high and won his last three - his recent run over two miles at Doncaster was way too sharp for him and he was sixth, staying on behind Kalahari King.
WIND INSTRUMENT
He wasn't really in the Cheltenham team until last Friday as he had been very disappointing in his two runs in the early part of the season. But he wore a pair of blinkers at Sandown on Friday and won a handicap chase. He has an entry in the Kim Muir - he won off 123 at Sandown and will go up a few pounds but will take his chance. He jumped better and travelled well on Friday and he did run well in the William Hill last year as a novice. His last effort was much more encouraging.
SALDEN LICHT
He was a decent Flat handicapper for James Eustace. He has had two runs and was impressive at Newbury before making slightly heavy weather of things at Plumpton. He probably had more in the tank than the official head winning distance in the latter and he is due to go to Kempton on Saturday and run in the Dovecote Hurdle. Depending on how he gets on there, he goes to Cheltenham where he is in the Supreme and will also have an entry in the County Hurdle. I will know more after the weekend as to which race he'll go for as he must have a third run to qualify for the County. Saturday is the cut-off date for handicaps.
CHAMIREY
Finished third at Haydock in the Pertemps Qualifier and is a thorough stayer. He beat Tricky Trickster over 3m3f on his previous start. He had two entries at Cheltenam but will be taken out of the Albert Bartlett and his target will be the Pertemps Final. He is genuine but it is possible we might put a pair of blinkers or cheekpieces on him. He goes on any ground and a stiff test of stamina will suit him ideally.
OH CRICK
Ran at Ascot behind Monet's Garden and I was a little disappointed with his jumping. He got very tired after the last and didn't get home so we will drop him back down to two miles. He has an entry in the Champion Chase and the Grand Annual, which he won last year. If he goes for the Champion, the owner is happy for Wayne Hutchinson to ride him as Robert Thornton has been released to ride Twist Magic for Paul Nicholls.
BENSALEM
Finished second to Diamond Harry at Newbury and I am fed up of coming second to him! He is in the RSA Chase but will have an entry in the William Hill Handicap Chase as well. He is currently rated 143 and I would be disappointed if he was not better than that rating.
THE BETCHWORTH KID
Stayed on at Kempton very well at the finish last time after they went very slow. He's in the Neptune but I'm 99 per cent certain he will run n the Albert Bartlett. He was a thorough stayer on the Flat and will enjoy the three miles, a big field and the strongly-run race. He has to be one of my best chances of the week and goes straight to the Festival now.
KATCHIT
I know he hasn't won for a long time but we've been very happy with his runs this season. I was pleased with him at Cheltenham in January in the Cleeve Hurdle when he was only just beaten for second. He travelled with all of his old zest on his first try over thee miles and jumped really well. He goes for the World Hurdle and Big Buck's sets a very high standard but I'd be disappointed if he wasn't in amongst them at the last. He's a grand little horse and his enthusiasm is still there - if we get decent ground he should run very well.
KARABAK
Will join Katchit in the World Hurdle and he has only had the two runs this season as he does not stand a lot of racing. He was second to Zaynar at Ascot and then second to Big Buck's in the Long Walk at Newbury. He goes to Cheltenham fresh and well and is very consistent - I hope he will also be right there at the last scrapping away.
MILLE CHIEF
Is favourite for the Triumph Hurdle as you know. Everything looked to be going extremely well on his debut until he was brought down at the second last. He was okay fortunately but was one of the horses badly effected by a muscle enzyme problem. I was very happy with his second run at Kempton as he was only 90 per cent fit then we went to Huntingdon for a race won a few years ago with Penzance. It was far from a strong race but he did everything asked of him. He's due to go to Kempton Saturday as I'd just like to get one more run into him but if the weather does not relent then he'll go straight to the Festival. I think he's every bit as good, if not better than Penzance and Katchit, who both won the Triumph for me.
VOY POR USTEDES
He might be getting a little bit older but he still has plenty of spark. Clearly he is not a two-miler any more but we were desparate to get another run into him in the Game Spirit at Newbury. I thought he ran a terrific race until they quickened away from him turning in. He will go for the Ryanair Chase providing it's reasonable ground. If it did come up heavy, we would then wait for Aintree. He's been a great servant and I'm sure the enthusiasm is still there.
MANYRIVERSTOCROSS
He's in the Supreme and the Neptune and I'm working on the owner as I am keen to run him over two-and-a-half miles. He ran a smashing race in the toesport Trophy at Newbury and I have just been thinking that he'll be better over a longer trip. I'm not going to put him in any of the handicaps as I would like to keep things pretty simple. A strong-run race and a step up in trip should see him run very well.
GILDED AGE
A horse that you may not know much about. He won on the Flat for Mark Johnston and disappointed on his debut at Sandown last November when he came home a very sick horse. It has taken a long time to get him back and he ran at Doncaster a fortnight ago and finished fourth which was much better. He was bang there two out before getting a little tired and I've been pleased with his work since. He needs another run to qualify for the Fred Winter and a good solid effort should give him the right sort of mark.
PENNEK
Goes for the four-miler (National Hunt Chase). All he does is stay and his two runs at Bangor and Ffos Las were way too sharp for him. He needs a thorough test and will just keep soldiering on. He has to get a bit more match practice in as he has had just the two chases. He was a decent hurdler last year and Cheltenham suits him well as he was placed in the Pertemps Final. If you watch him from the top of the hill all he did was stay on so the four miles will suit.
MEDERMIT
Beat Punjabi in the Haydock Park Champion Hurdle Trial and it was always the plan to go to Cheltenham fresh. He was second in the Supreme last year behind Go Native and I think he was a little bit unlucky that day. He's in wonderful form and we are just starting to build him back up and he'll do a fairly strong piece of work at the end of this week. I'm very much looking forward to running him in the Champion Hurdle and I used to think he was much better on decent ground but he handled the soft going well at Haydock. I think we've left a little to work on after that Haydock race and I reckon he has a strong each-way chance.
