Alan King (Sporting Life) Stable Tour
Unable to call upon the likes of Balder Succes, who sadly suffered a fatal fall at Aintree, and Ryanair Chase hero Uxizandre, who is on the long-term injury list, King is all too aware that he needs a number of his younger battalion to fill the void.
One of those expected to jump close to the top of the pecking order over the course of the season is dual National Hunt Flat scorer and Champion Bumper fourth Yanworth.
Although yet to face a set of hurdles in public, the JP McManus-owned five-year-old is already prominent in the ante-post market for the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle at next year's Cheltenham Festival.
King said: "Yanworth is exciting and is a very good bumper horse from last year. He will go novice hurdling and is working very well, he looks to have sharpened up a bit to be honest.
"Whether I start him on a stiff two miles or over two-and-a-half, I am not sure. He is more of a galloping, staying type than a speed horse.
"He is an interesting horse as he has had an extra year in bumpers. My good bumper horses that will go hurdling this year are four whereas he is five, but of course he is right up there bringing Cheltenham form to the table.
"I see him as a good staying type. I don't see him being a Supreme horse, unless I have got him totally wrong."
King is equally optimistic about the prospects of The Unit, last seen winning a valuable bumper at Newbury in March on just his second start.
King said: "We like The Unit. He was a good bumper horse last year. He finished third at Kempton on his debut, then he won the sales race at Newbury, which was always his target.
"We decided to put him away after that. I don't think he would run in another bumper, if he did it would probably be the good bumper at the Paddy Power meeting at Cheltenham.
"I think we will probably go straight over hurdles with him now. We will probably start him off at two miles to see where we are. He is a horse that has always pleased us. He is a lovely prospect."
With the younger lights from his yard expected to make their presence felt this season, King also put forward two fillies that could merit close consideration when sent hurdling.
He said: "Katie Too is one of the many exciting fillies we have got. She won her debut at Newbury, beating the (Sir Mark) Prescott horse Sea Pride that has turned out to be pretty useful. She will go novice hurdling - mares' only if I can find enough of them. I would think she would start at two miles and work up from there.
"Miss Crick was good enough to win a bumper over a mile and a half last year, and arguably she was over the top at Aintree. She is another we like and will go the mares' novice hurdle route. We will start her over two miles as she has always shown plenty of pace."
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Although Ordo Ab Chao failed to feature in his final two starts of last season, the six-year old had earlier proved his effectiveness over hurdles with three victories including one in Grade Two company at Cheltenham in January.
With that in mind, King is confident enough he can make a mark in novice chases this term.
He said: "He will go novice chasing. I would imagine we will start him at two and a half, but he will get further.
"Two and a half on slowish ground will suit and we will see where we go from there. It's always good to have a good novice chaser and he would be up there among them.
"We will feel our way before planning any targets with him."
Ned Stark showed marked improvement throughout the campaign, highlighted by a battling success in the Grade Two Towton Novices' Chase at Wetherby in January.
While only finishing eighth in a Grade Three at the Festival on his final start, King believes there is still more to come.
He said: "He is a young horse and hopefully we haven't seen the best of him. He was still a little bit leggy last year.
"He has summered well and is now back in strong work. He would be ready to roll the first half of November.
"I am not quite sure where he will start yet. He will possibly have a Hennessy entry, but I am not certain he would go down that route. But those sort of good three-mile chases would be for him. Hopefully he will prove to be a good handicapper."
Although a number of relatively new names are expected to come to the fore throughout the duration of the season, several familiar faces will return for what is hoped will be a campaign blessed with success, including popular grey Smad Place.
King said: "I think I made a real mess of Smad Place last year in as much as I tried to go to the Hennessy without a prep. He got very tired and had a hard race.
"It took a long time for him to get over it, if he ever did. He probably falls between two divisions at the moment. He has got plenty of weight in handicaps and is not really good enough for the championship races.
"He has only won two chases and does still qualify for a graduation chase. We might just get him started in one of those to get his head back in front and build our way from there.
"He has summered well and I am hoping that a good break has sparked him up."
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More from King on the rest of his team.
KAREZAK
"He only won once last year, but he ran some very good races in defeat. Arguably the only race he didn't run well in was the Triumph. He didn't even want to line up that day, which was disappointing. He finished the season finishing third at Ascot carrying top weight.
"He is a big strapping horse. He is one we could conceivably think about jumping a fence with this year, but he is only four. He didn't really do a lot wrong last year, he just bumped into a couple of Nicky Henderson's juveniles."
THE TOURARD MAN
"He is going to go novice chasing. We got him started in the Silver Trophy at Chepstow and while two and a half miles is too sharp for him it got a run into him.
"Ideally he wants three miles. He has been placed in a hunter chase in Ireland, so he has had a bit of experience over fences.
"He is a very tough horse. One of the toughest we've trained. He had a good season last year and ran very well at Cheltenham to be third in the Pertemps.
"He was unlucky at Aintree where he got hampered around the top bend and was nearly last and stayed on to be fifth, making up an impossible amount of ground."
AVISPA
"She was disappointing last year, having won a very good mares' bumper the year before. She was placed in every run, but we didn't quite seem to press the right buttons.
"She has had a very long break. She is backing working well and has always been an extremely good work horse at home.
"She has got black type and a novice should be a formality. I've not lost faith in her."
L'UNIQUE
"She will go chasing. Arguably she could be the best ever mare I have sent chasing. The firm ground had held me back from schooling her. She is a Grade One winner over hurdles so we have high hopes."
ULZANA'S RAID
"He will go chasing. He is a good staying type that never wins by far, but that is just him. He is a tough horse. He won twice at Cheltenham last year and we will probably start him out over two miles six, but ultimately he is a staying horse and a three-miler in the making."
ANNACOTTY
"Annacotty is new to me this season. He is doing well and would be ready to run the first half of November, but we will chat to the owners and see where we go with him.
"He is possibly a horse that may be better caught fresh, but we are still learning. From what we've seen so far, we are happy. He is a very likeable horse that has a good attitude."
SEGO SUCCESS
"He disappointed at the end of last year when he was wrong. He scoped badly after the Scottish National.
"He is back in good form. I would see him going for those good long-distance staying chases. He doesn't mind soft, but he wouldn't want it much slower than that.
"You would have to question him being a Welsh National horse, as I don't think he would want a slog around Chepstow. But that is his type of race."
BIG CHIEF BEN
"He is a bumper horse that we like. He had two runs last year. He was second at Warwick on his debut and while he disappointed at Ascot on his only other run, he scoped badly.
"We left him alone after that, but we think he is above average. Whether he runs in one more bumper or goes straight hurdling, I am not sure yet."
BOARD OF TRADE
"He is another good bumper horse, who is two from two. He has a good pedigree and is a half-brother to numerous winners. He won at Exeter, beating a horse of Philip Hobbs' (Wishfull Dreaming) who won the good bumper at Cheltenham on New Year's Day.
"He will go straight novice hurdling. We will start him at two, but he will get further."
CHOSEN WELL
"He won his first two over hurdles last season. He ran well in his two subsequent runs, although I didn't feel he was quite getting home so we had his breathing tidied up recently.
"He is going to go novice chasing. He is a proper, likeable three-mile chaser."
MIDNIGHT COWBOY
"He finished second on his debut at Kempton. He went back to Kempton and disappointed at a time when mine weren't right. Again, I think he is a pretty decent prospect. He might have one more run in a bumper, then go hurdling."
OCEANE
"He has good Flat form and is a horse we like. Whether he wants deep ground I am not sure, so we will kick on with him for the moment. He was rated in the high 80s on the Flat and he came from the same trainer we got Walkon and Mille Chief from and that was the attraction there."
PASSMORE
"I think we bumped into one of Hugo Palmer's on her debut at Huntingdon. We've liked this filly all the way through and although she was beaten, I wasn't disappointed by her.
"We will take our time. She could go to Warwick for the David Nicholson Memorial. She will stay in bumpers this season and I would like to think she is good enough for those black type fillies' bumpers in the spring."
PEMBA
"She was third on her only run over hurdles at Auteuil. She is another that I would earmark for the Aintree juvenile fillies' hurdle.
VALDEZ
"He is back. He just had the one run last year and was going to bolt up at Chepstow, but had that horrible fall. We thought he was OK, but he had a tendon issue afterwards and we had to pull up stumps. I'd like to think we would have him back for December and go from there."
WILDE BLUE YONDER
"He is another good horse we have got back this season. He was fifth in the Supreme 18 months ago and fourth at Aintree. We will probably stay hurdling with him for another season. I'd like to think there is a good handicap in him. He does stay two and a half, but we will start at two and see where we are."