King hoping ground goes his way
My Way de Solzen appears increasingly likely to take his chance in next week’s Ladbrokes World Hurdle after further rain gladdened the spirits of trainer Alan King today.
Not all of the 15-strong team King plans to run at the Cheltenham Festival appreciate plenty of cut in the ground.
But My way de Solzen most definitely does and King described him as being “absolutely lethal when he gets it soft”.
The six-year-old has landed his two most recent starts in bloodless fashion, beating Neptune Collonges in the Long Walk Hurdle at Chepstow before hammering Dancing Bay in the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell.
King warned again that quick ground would see My Way de Solzen bypass the meeting but as the rain bucketed down at his Barbury Castle yard that prospect seemed ever less likely.
“I have never seen a horse who can sail through soft ground like he can,” said King.
“I hope the ground is safe enough so that I can run him and if he does run then I think he’s got a hell of a chance.
“As long as it’s good or good-to-soft then he’ll run but if it was just to come up bottomless then that would be right in our favour.
“You never go to Cheltenham expecting to have winners but we have managed one for the past two seasons and it would be great to manage a third.”
The other horse King believes will bring the stable the greatest chance of success is unbeaten novice chaser Voy Por Ustedes, who bids for victory in the Irish Independent Arkle Trophy, a race that the trainer thinks “could well be the race of the meeting”.
“There are some great horses in there but he has got plenty in his favour,” he continued.
“He is a very talented horse who did probably the best piece of work I have ever seen a week ago last year when he worked over a mile and murdered everything.
“He was probably over the top after that but he was still adjusting to being here as he had only arrived from France on Boxing Day.
“It was a good job the Kingmaker was rescheduled for Wincanton after Warwick was abandoned because I was desperate to get a run into him to take the steam out of him.
“He is a horse who does show you when he is coming to the boil and he’s not far off it now. He worked very well the other day and Choc (Robert Thornton) will probably come over tomorrow to pop him over a couple of fences.
“It’s going to be a hard race but what I can say is that his confidence is sky-high. He jumps well and stays further than two miles, which I think is a plus in the Arkle.”
My Way de Solzen and Voy Por Ustedes might be the likeliest stars of the show, but King has plenty of support acts lined up for the meeting.
Penzance, fully recovered from the bout of ’horse hiccups’ he suffered after his last outing at Wincanton, will run in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle provided he continues to please connections.
“He had a condition called the thumps, which I had only ever seen once before,” said King.
“It’s caused by a calcium imbalance and once he’d had a calcium injection then he seemed fine an hour later.
“It’s actually quite a serious thing and can be life-threatening but he’s shown no sign of it since and provided he works well then we’ll go for the Champion. If not, then we could wait for the Scottish Champion at Ayr.
“We knew this could be a difficult season for him as a four-year-old and he has been running well.
“It’s going to be hard for him to win the Champion and it really does look destined to go to Ireland, but he looks very well and we know that he handles Cheltenham and the big occasion.”
Blazing Bailey will represent the stable in the JCB Triumph Hurdle, the race that Penzance won 12 months ago.
King commented: “He is a real galloper and, while he might not have the class of Penzance, he will be staying on at the finish and he is a brilliant jumper.”
