Alner planning Kingscliff Cup tilt

Robert Alner is hoping it will be third time lucky getting Kingscliff to the post for the 2006 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The lightly-raced Toulon gelding has missed the last two runnings of chasing’s blue riband with a muscle injury in 2004 and then because of a poor gallop this time round.

Kingscliff disappointed when a distant fourth behind Cheltenham hero Kicking King at Punchestown last month on only his second start of the last campaign and has been turned out for the summer.

“We had him checked over by a physio and there doesn’t appear to be anything physically wrong with him – he’s not lame or anything,” said Alner today.

“We’ll just forget that one and look forward to next season. He’s been turned out and won’t come back in for training for three months and he should be fit by November.

“We’ll obviously be looking at the Gold Cup as the ultimate aim but we have no definite plans for him before that. We’ll just see how we go and what there is for him as we go along.”

Alner has been unable to pinpoint what went wrong at Punchestown.

“We all agree that wasn’t his true running,” the Dorset trainer added.

“Perhaps it was just the travelling to Ireland and being in a strange stable. He’d not experienced any of that before.

“We’ve certainly not lost faith in him. We didn’t have the best of seasons with him but he hasn’t got many miles on the clock and he should be in his prime next season.”

Kingscliff has only had seven races under rules and had become a serious contender for the Gold Cup when beaten just two and a half lengths by Kicking King in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day in his first outing for 11 months.