Alan King Festival Runners

[bigeeps]

Shamelessly taken from Weatherbys website

There was quite a good turn out at Alan King’s Barbury Castle yard on Monday, when members of the Press were invited to watch a parade of the Scotsman’s Festival entries. With the recent snowy conditions nothing but a distant memory, a warm winter’s sun shone down as some of the country’s leading chasers and hurdlers were paraded before us. Virtually every horse behaved impeccably as Alan discussed their options for the Festival along with his own personal thoughts on each and every one, which we are pleased to report back on.


KARABAK - He is 99% sure to go for Ballymore even though he also has an entry in the Supreme Novices. Clearly held in very high regard, Alan said “He is a very exciting prospect and goes into the race with a very strong chance. I have not been able to beat Diamond Harry yet, but I am determined to do so before the end of the season.”
MEDERMIT - Will most likely go down the Supreme Novices’ route and would have a decent chance of being placed.
OH CRICK - Holds an entry in the Arkle but more likely to line up in the Grand Annual where he would have a good racing weight.
FRANCHOEK - Will be given an entry in the Coral Cup but is far from a definite starter.
PANGBOURNE - He was one of few horses to misbehave. He is clearly not a straightforward horse and is best described as ‘cranky.’ He has an entry in the National Hunt Chase but not strongly fancied.
JUNIOR - Holds entries in the Ballymore and the Albert Bartlett although the former is the preferred option at the moment. Perhaps not good enough to win it, he is fancied to achieve a top six finish.
OUZBECK - Holds entries in the Royal&Sun Alliance and Ryanair but will probably take another route. He is fresh from a winter break and is set to run in the Pendil at Kempton on Saturday as long as the ground dries out as Alan was keen to stress that good ground was vital to this horse. He will then be given entries in either the Jewson or the Festival Plate, although Alan felt the latter was the easier option.
VOY POR USTEDES - It was hard to believe that he had only raced 48 hours earlier as he was as fresh as a daisy, showing no ill-effects of his romp at Ascot. It was probably his easiest win yet and he was clearly in good heart, bucking and kicking his way round the paddock. He looked an absolute picture with the winter sun shining on his coat and is a serious contender in the Ryanair. He then posed like a movie star as the posse of photographers clambered to take his picture.
BLAZING BAILEY - Alan felt that this year’s World Hurdle is one of the strongest for many a year. He also added that this will be his last run over hurdles before going chasing and thought the best he could hope for was to finish in the money. I don’t think Blazing Bailey’s lass agreed as she glared menacingly at her boss.
NENUPHAR COLLONGES - Holds an entry in the World Hurdle but more than likely to go down the William Hill Chase route. Alan said that he was a hard horse to place at the moment as he hasn’t quite got home in his last couple of efforts.
POUVOIR - The horse threw a curb last year and had to be blistered but by all accounts he is back on track now. He holds an entry in the World Hurdle but is more likely to run in either the Coral Cup or the new Martin Pipe race. He will have an outing in a Grade 2 Hurdle at Fontwell on Sunday and is expected to improve on whatever he does in that race.
TRENCHANT - He might run at Kempton on Saturday but his preparation has been a bit rushed and he is only a possible for the Triumph Hurdle.
SATICON - Another Triumph entrant but he is much more likely to go down the Fred Winter route. Alan felt that he was a better horse than the bare form suggests but also said that good ground was vital as he clearly hates it soft.
WALKON- The yard’s main Triumph fancy looked very well in himself and his trainer was clearly excited by his prospects. He said that he was enjoying life at present both mentally and physically and had been showing a great attitude to his work at home. He should be suited by any ground and the stable clearly hold him in the very highest regard.
THETWINCAMDRIFT - A likely starter in the Albert Bartlett but whilst not considered good enough to win he certainly won’t disgrace himself and will be staying on up the Cheltenham hill.
KATCHIT - He is back on track to defend his crown in the Champion Hurdle despite some modest efforts so far this term. Alan felt that he made a mistake by running the horse with too much weight but is pleased that he has come back in to training, showing the same old sparkle after a month off. He stressed that he still has plenty of work to do over the next three weeks but felt the horse was back to his same old self. He also pointed out that ultimately Katchit now needs a step up in trip.
BENSALEM - Clearly held in the highest regard by his handler, he holds entries in the Ballymore and Albert Bartlett although the latter is the preferred option as Alan prefers not to run him against Karabak. There were very positive vibes about this one and he looks one to keep an eye on.
HALCON GENELARDAIS - Alan felt that many of his recent efforts had been laboured, before staying on again once his fate was sealed. He felt that the horse didn’t really like Cheltenham but with very few options would line up in the Gold Cup. His best chance would come if the ground was soft or slower and is considering throwing on the cheek pieces to try and keep his mind on the task ahead.
OVER SIXTY - She will probably go for the mares’ race but would have a hard time of it if the principals turn up. However, she won’t disgrace herself and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her reach the frame.
BALZACCIO - This horse must have decent ground so is only a possible for the Feed Winter. His preparation has been something of a rush job however.
PENNEK - Will be aimed at the Pertemps Final. Alan was slightly concerned that he had been hitting a flat spot early on in his races, losing his chance before he really started racing. He is considering a set of blinkers but felt that this horse would have a serious chance if everything clicks right.
PENN DA BENN - Has won his last two races with relative ease even though he tends to pull himself up as soon as he hits the front. Alan fancies his chances at Cheltenham as he is better going left handed and has a good engine. He will be entered in the Coral Cup and the Martin Pipe race.

 

[Sara]

Thanks for that - bit worried there is no word on Bakbenscher though!

 

[trackside528]

Cheers, bigeeps.

Nice to see a positive write-up for Bensalem, considering I've backed him for the Albert Bartlett.

 

[Colin Phillips]

I feel it is my duty to remind you that Alan thought Group Captain was his best chance of a festival winner last year.:blink:

 

[Simon]

Do you know why he moved to the Hugh Collingridge stable, Colin?

 

[sunybay]

we could use this topic for other trainers festival runners too

thanks bigeeps

 

[Colin Phillips]

No, Simon, I don't.

 

[Diminuendo]

The horses looked fantastic and little Katchit looked quite a picture. VPU was really full of himself and several of the lesser fancies looked extremely well. I think Alan has got an excellent team of horses prepared for this years festival, but then yesterday I saw the fire power at Ditcheat.

 

[sunybay]

BIG BUCK'S: He did well as a novice chaser, winning twice over two miles before we got his trip right and he won a nice race over three at Aintree. We kept him to run in the Hennessy where he unseated Sam Thomas at the last when still in with every chance. After that I said to Andy Stewart that with so many others heading to the Gold Cup why don't we have a go back over hurdles?

We did that and he has won his last two races. He beat Punchestowns in the Cleeve last time and while he was getting eight pounds, it was still an impressive performance. He's a horse who when he hits the front he pricks his ears and only does enough. You wouldn't know how much he has left in the tank.

Obviously Kasbah Bliss was very impressive at Haydock on Saturday but the World Hurdle is a different day on a very different track. Both ourselves and Nicky have to believe we can beat him and the Ladbrokes World Hurdle looks to be one of the races of the Festival.

BIG FELLA THANKS: He's in the National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham but the plan is to run in the Racing Post Chase at Kempton on Saturday and then the Grand National. He won at Doncaster very, very nicely and would have been involved in the finish at Kempton the time before but for unseating Christian Williams. He likes a flat track, decent ground and stays very well so he looks ideal for Aintree. If all things go right at the weekend he'll head there.

CELESTIAL HALO: He is our first live hope for the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle. He has done really well and really comes to himself in the spring. He's done very well this year, finishing second to Binocular at Ascot on his reappearance. That run was on the back of us having some problems with him as he'd had an allergic reaction to something and until about a month before Ascot we never got him right.

Then overnight it disappeared and he has not looked back since. He won nicely at Sandown last time where he just jumped a little lazily and was a bit lazy in running but I'd deliberately left plenty to work on. He's improved enormously since that day, worked very well on Wednesday morning and I'm very happy with him.

He looks great, everything will suit him at Cheltenham, but there's obviously a mountain to climb against Binocular. He will be hard to beat but we know we are going there with a live chance.

CHAPOTURGEON: Would have won first time out at Exeter when he fell and was then second to Araldur of Alan King's at Huntingdon. At the time we thought it wasn't a great run and while the winner went on to beat Free World at Sandown, I don't feel Chapoturgeon was at his best that day. We gave him a break and took him to Doncaster a couple of weeks ago and he won easily, jumping brilliantly. He now has a handicap mark and will run in the Jewson Handicap Chase. He is off 135 which seems fair enough and while he's also in the Grand Annual, I always felt the Jewson was the race for him.

CONFLICTOFINTEREST: We think an awful lot of him and when he won a bumper last year we thought he'd be a nice horse for this season's Supreme Novices' Hurdle. However he struggled with his breathing a little bit and we ran him once at Wincanton in the autumn on soft ground and finished fourth in a pretty ordinary race. He had a breathing operation and we are very pleased with him now. If the ground dries up he could run at Kempton on Saturday and depending how he goes there, the Supreme Novices' could be on the agenda after all.

DENMAN: Kempton the other day proved what I'd long suspected that going right-handed isn't ideal for him. If I hadn't run him there I'd have had no way of running him anywhere and the race has brought him on enormously both mentally and physically.

He didn't run up to form but take the winner out and he beat Albertas Run by 25 lengths. The ground was very dead and I'm not sure how the race is going to work out but Denman was obviously not as fit as we thought.

Last year when he went to the Hennessy I thought he'd need the run but he surprised us and didn't. He tends to though and he is a lot tighter now than he was at Kempton. He's improved for it - but needs to as at Kempton he wasn't the horse he was last year. It might just be he will run a nice race in the Gold Cup and after a summer break we can bring him back to what he was. Whether he has had the time to get over his problems, I just don't know but we are very happy with him now and he isn't a horse you can judge at home. He's never been a flying machine, his work is lazy and workmanlike. That's just him but physically and mentally he has really come on for Kempton.

HEBRIDEAN: He's not overly big and was a good Flat horse for Aidan O'Brien. He ran okay first time out for us at Newbury where in hindsight he probably wasn't as fit as we thought he was. He improved enormously to finish second to a nice horse of Nicky Henderson's (Ainama) at Kempton last time when the ground was again too soft for him and he heads back there on Saturday.

With better ground on Saturday I'd be very hopeful he will run a big race and if he was to win easily we could still think about the Triumph. However Ruby keeps telling me Aintree is the race for this fellow. Saturday will tell us a lot more. He has plenty of speed and likes decent ground.

I'MSINGINGTHEBLUES: He has done nothing but improve all season over fences and is now pretty short in the Arkle betting. He won first-time at Kempton and was then second to Briareus when we perhaps didn't ride him as aggressively as we should have done. He then gave weight and a beating to Calgary Bay at Doncaster, for which he didn't get the credit he deserved, before winning a £100,000 handicap back there. He jumps well, gets two miles very well and while he has plenty of form on flat tracks, he has won around Cheltenham before - a Grade Two novice hurdle. He's right in the mix for the Arkle and Christian Williams will keep the ride at Cheltenham.

KAUTO STAR: We've learned now that he needs to be fresh and we are very, very happy with him at the moment. He worked very well on Wednesday morning. He was slow to come to hand last season but this year, before he won at Down Royal, we felt he was back to his best.

He was well short of that at Haydock when things didn't work out but we had him right again for the King George at Kempton and he was as good there as he's ever been.

There are not many horses who've had the defeats he's had but keep bouncing back. We know we have him fresh and well, his preparation for the Gold Cup has been much better and he is very, very well. We think he has a great chance. He does stay, he does go in soft ground and he is still the one they all have to beat on form.

KICKS FOR FREE: He was beaten a nose under a big weight in last year's Coral Cup and has done very well chasing this year. He was second at Newbury, giving weight to The Market Man, and was second again giving weight to Calgary Bay at Cheltenham. He didn't jump very fluently there which cost him any chance of winning and he isn't the biggest horse in the world.

We are going to step him up in trip now and he will probably run in the RSA Chase, three miles will suit him. He could run at Kempton or Fontwell this weekend and going over further should suit him as it will help his jumping. If it came up soft at Cheltenham I may be tempted to wait for Aintree.

MASTER MINDED: Won the Tingle Creek and Victor Chandler this season and didn't come out of a canter to win at Ascot. We feel he's improved enormously physically from last year and we were going into last year's Champion Chase unsure as to exactly what we had. We know now!

He's in really good order with himself and when he's right he's hugely impressive. Running at Aintree after Cheltenham was a mistake last year and he wants to run on the back of a break. Spacing his races out is ideal and the way the two-mile programme is, that suits him. He's just where we'd want him to be and on form, if he goes there as he is now, with a clear round he'll be very hard to beat. He's the highest-rated jumper in training now and is probably the best I've had and the best I'll ever have.

MOBAASHER: He goes very well fresh and ran very well at Ascot in the Long Walk and again at Newbury. Cheltenham will suit him, he runs well there, and we've kept him fresh for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. He's one of the outsiders in the race but is the sort of horse who could run into a place. He'll go to Aintree and Punchestown after Cheltenham.

MY WILL: He's of interest for the National as he ran a blinding race in the Hennessy, his first race for 18 months, when staying on strongly into fifth. We were pleasantly surprised by that run and I've not run him since and he has a nice weight of 10st 10lb in the National.

He has plenty of good form in the book and we are aiming him at Aintree but will run at Cheltenham on the way. He's still in the Gold Cup and if that was to cut up he could well go there while he's also in the William Hill Handicap Chase on the first day.

NEPTUNE COLLONGES: He won at Leopardstown on Sunday and has now won three Grade Ones in Ireland and who knows what would have happened in the Lexus over Christmas? He was still in front when falling and all he does is gallop to the line.

He was back here at 7am on Monday after winning on Sunday and has got over the journey well and heads to the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup. He's a year younger than Kauto Star and Denman so there may still be improvement in him and he has to be right in the mix again.

He was third in the race last year, not being beaten very far, but the race was run to suit him with an end-to-end gallop. He's definitely improving, jumped great on Sunday which we'd been working on, and he must go to Cheltenham with a great chance.

As things stand, if Kauto Star and Denman get there, Christian Williams will ride Neptune Collonges. He does a lot of schooling on him and has won twice on the horse already.

POQUELIN: He's in the Arkle and the Grand Annual at the Festival and as things stand at the moment he will run in the latter. He needs a fast-run race which he will get there and also wants decent ground. He has to go left-handed, we found that out when he jumped terribly at Ascot last time, and has already won at Cheltenham this season. His profile tells me the Grand Annual will suit him and he is one to look forward to on decent ground this spring.

PRIDE OF DULCOTE: Another one of our leading chances. He will run in the Albert Bartlett which looks like being a competitive race but this fellow has improved enormously.

He looked like he may have won at Cheltenham in November when giving Ruby a horrible fall and has won twice at Wincanton since.

He already has a mark of 155 which is right up there with the best novice hurdlers. He stays very well, we've ironed out a few issues he had with his jumping and he's a lovely horse. He's been kept fresh and will make a lovely chaser next season.

STAR DE MOHAISON: He won the RSA Chase two or three years ago and has been plagued by injury ever since but has come back this year as good as ever. He ran a nice race in a Cheltenham handicap off top weight in the autumn and I expected him to run really well in the Letheby & Christopher Chase in January.

The ground was very testing though and as much as anything he didn't stay in it. Hetravelled okay and at two miles six he was the winner but his best form is all on a decent surface.

When he gets that again you will see a much better performance from him. He's in the Gold Cup still and the William Hill Chase and we'll decide where he goes nearer the time. It's all ground-dependent with him and if it is good, he will run nicely wherever we go with him.

TATENEN: He is just about favourite for the Arkle and is an improving five-year-old. That age group lose their weight allowances at this time of the year but they are more mature in the spring. He's a big lad so weight won't be an issue for him.

He won very well at Aintree first time and then at Cheltenham in November. He was then favourite in a Grade One at Leopardstown over Christmas when the ground wasn't as soft as he likes and he was beaten. We probably weren't as positive as we should have been on him either while he didn't take to the travelling.

I haven't run him since, he runs very, very well fresh and did a great piece of work on Wednesday morning. We may have two runners in the race but there's no way Ruby wouldn't want to ride this one which says a lot. As long as there is some cut in the ground, good to soft would be fine. Then he will definitely be one of our leading chances.

THE NIGHTINGALE: This is a horse I think an awful lot of and he will make a lovely chaser next season. He's running in the Ballymore Properties Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham. He started this season at Exeter where he was going to win easily only to take a horrific fall at the crossing between the final hurdle and the winning post.

He took a while to get over that but went to Taunton and won very easily which did his confidence the world of good. I've purposely kept him fresh for a spring campaign and he worked nicely on Wednesday morning. On form it's difficult to know where he sits in the Cheltenham race but I see him being in the first six and making a lovely chaser next season.

TWIST MAGIC: On the whole he's been slightly disappointing since winning last year's Tingle Creek even though he did win at Punchestown in the spring. That race would be his big target again this year. He would have been a good second to Master Minded in the Tingle Creek but for falling and while he was bitterly disappointing at Kempton over Christmas, he came back lame. He wasn't right for a fortnight but is back in full work again now and is going nicely. He will run in the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase providing the ground isn't soft. He is capable of running a good race too as he needs to be fresh but has a mountain to climb against Master Minded.

WHAT A FRIEND: He's currently towards the head of the RSA Chase market and has won his two chases this season. The first was at Uttoxeter where he beat Carruthers quite cosily and we then went on to beat Ballyfitz at Cheltenham. He is a very lean sort of horse who wants to be fresh, hence I haven't run him since December.

He's in great order, looks great in his coat and deserves to be at the head of the betting for the RSA Chase. He's improved enormously, he's only six and the best is yet to come and I can definitely see him lining up in next year's Cheltenham Gold Cup.