Alan King Stable Tour 2022-23 including The Glancing Queen,

In recent years Alan King has seen his status on the Flat increase, but jump racing remains closest to his heart and if last season’s results are anything to go by then the 2022/23 campaign could be another exciting one for those at Barbury Castle Stables.

After celebrating his first Cheltenham Festival winner since 2015 following the victory of Edwardstone in the Sporting Life Arkle Novices’ Chase in March, King enjoyed a number of other notable triumphs among his final tally of 63 winners.

While the current campaign is in its infancy the signs of another profitable season looks to be on the cards with 20 winners already on the board before the wraps are fully taken off a number of those he hopes will hit the heights again this term.

King said: “It was lovely to get back on the scoresheet at the Cheltenham Festival as it had been a long time since we had winner there and it is winners that are remembered.

“We have had a few near misses since Uxizandre won the Ryanair in 2015 but if you throw enough mud something was going to stick eventually. The horses were very consistent last season. We won a lot of prize money and a few decent young horses came through.

“The three-year-old stores have arrived this week and they will be horses for bumpers in the spring. I’m excited about them. It is early days but we like what we have seen so far.”

A return trip to Cheltenham is on the cards for Edwardstone with King earmarking the Grade Two Shloer Chase on day three of the November Meeting for the gelding, who was last sighted filling the runner-up spot in the Poundland Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree in April.

He said: “He was good at Sandown and Cheltenham winning those Grade Ones and he wasn’t disgraced at Aintree either. On a sharper track he just got beaten by a better horse (Gentleman De Mee). We beat the third and fourth as far as we had been beating them all season.

“He is in great form and has summered extremely well. It has always been the plan to start him back at Cheltenham in the Shloer Chase provided the ground is alright.

“I want to see how gets on over two again as to whether we then step him up. If we thought he wants further, we would then train him for the Ryanair Chase. We will get the Shloer done first and see how he performs. I hope he can stay at two miles but I’ve got an open mind on it. He looks magnificent though."

Another potentially bound for Prestbury Park is Harbour Lake with King keen on stepping the lightly raced six-year-old back up in class for a tilt at the Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle after making a triumphant return at Market Rasen last month.

He said: “I’m pleased with him. He is not a horse that will stand a lot of racing as he is quite light framed but he did it well at Market Rasen.

“There is a chance we will come back and look at the Greatwood. He might be better over two and a half but he travelled extremely well over a sharp two three around Market Rasen. He was due to run at Aintree at the end of last season but he had a bruised foot on the day of the race but it might have been a blessing as he probably had enough by then.

“He would probably only want five or six runs max this season. He will jump fences in another season.”

Sceau Royal made a successful re-appearance when registering back-to-back wins in the Listed bet@racingtv.com Hurdle at Kempton Park last month and he will now bid to secure a record-extending fourth victory in the Grade Two Unibet Elite Hurdle at Wincanton on Saturday.

He said: “He is a wonderful horse and he is as good as ever. His work over the last two seasons has been much better than when he was a young horse which is surprising. I’ve lost count how many times he has come up the hill here but he attacks it every day.

“I was thrilled with him in what was a nice canter around Kempton and provided they get enough rain I would like to run him back at Wincanton in the Elite.

“We will probably mix and match with over hurdles and fences but the Elite is the next target for him then he will probably have an entry in the Fighting Fifth. He is still a miserable so-and-so in the stable though and he still attacks me but once he is at the races butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth! Everyone loves him and rightly so.”

Likely to be joining Sceau Royal down in Somerset at the weekend is Potterman, who will attempt to go one place better than on his last two outings in the 61st Badger Beer Handicap Chase.

He said: “We did his wind last season then he won well at Kelso. The bet365 Gold Cup was a strange race. They went so hard and he never got into it. He is a horse that wants to be fairly fresh.

“The plan, ground permitting, is to go back to the Badger Beer Chase, which he has been second in the race for the past two seasons. He is handicapped to the hilt but hopefully he can bounce back to a bit of form.”

King has had few horses that have appeared to appreciate the Grand National fences quite as much as Senior Citizen, who will make his fifth start over them in the Boylesports Best Odds Guaranteed On Racing Sefton Chase on Saturday.

He said: “He will hopefully go for the Sefton which he was second in last season. I wanted to run him at Market Rasen but he didn’t scope quite right. He is in the Paddy Power Gold Cup but that is just a backup.

“He seems to love the Aintree fences and the only time he sees them is at the racecourse as we don’t school him over them at home. He was outpaced in the Topham then he stayed on again. I don’t see any reason why he can’t perform over them again.”

Last season The Glancing Queen made an instant impact in her first campaign chasing after winning three of her five starts, including two at Listed level, and King hopes the talented mare can continue to shine over fences this term.

He said: “She had a little hold up as she fell over in the yard so we missed 10 days to a fortnight with her so she won’t be ready for another three or four weeks. If I go to Cheltenham it will be over two miles or we will look for an easy two and a half.

“I don’t think she gets two miles five around Cheltenham even though she was second in a Dipper. She was definitely going up and down on the spot in the last half a furlong and the same thing happened at the Festival.

“We dropped her back to two miles at Cheltenham at the April meeting and she powered through the line that day. She is a marvellous mare but she has always been pretty good I’m just not convinced how much stamina she really has.”

The Glancing Queen is not the only talented mare King has on his books with Nina The Terrier expected to be up to competing against the best mares in the business over hurdles.

He said: “She is a grand mare. She is at her best over two and a half. We gave her a run over two miles at Chepstow to sharpen her up for Wetherby where unfortunately she fell. We will probably step up to two and her a half now.

“There is the mares’ race at Cheltenham over that trip but she is a decent ground filly and I shouldn’t have run her when they had all that rain as it was the only time she disappointed. She is a cracker really."

Last season North Lodge proved one of King’s leading novice hurdlers, and together with talented Flat performer Raymond Tusk he hopes both can pay their way over smaller obstacles again this season.

He said: “North Lodge was a progressive horse last season. He won a Grade Two at Cheltenham and he narrowly got beaten in a Grade Two at Kelso and was then third in the Grade One Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.

“Although he looks like a chaser I just felt he needs a bit more time and match practice so we will stay down the handicap hurdle route with him. He won’t be ready until the middle to end of November but we will be looking at races over two and a half miles.

“I think I will put Raymond Tusk back over hurdles as he is getting very difficult to place. He is still rated 101 on the Flat and he finished fourth the other day in a good race in France. He is only of 114 over hurdles and he loves his jumping.

“His first run was good but his other two were disappointing but I think we will school him over hurdles then we might go down that route.”

The Wigly Group Classic Handicap Chase at Warwick is a contest King often likes to target and in 2021 winner Notachance and Major Dundee he could have two live prospects of giving him a fourth win in the race.

He said: “The old boy Notachance is in good form. He had a hoof injury two years ago and he took a long time to get his confidence back. In his last two runs he was second at Sandown then he finished third at Cheltenham. He might start at Bangor in a couple of weeks.

“He probably needs to be on the mark he is but it is about confidence with him and those two runs in the spring got it back. I would have thought the Classic Chase will be on the radar again.

“I needed to get a run into Major Dundee before the Coral Gold Cup and we are running out of time so we decided to go to Ascot with him. We will work back from the Scottish National again and the Classic Chase could come onto the agenda.

“Schooling over fences at home he was only adequate but on the track he was a different horse. He is a stronger horse this season and would be better this season."

When it comes to novice hurdlers King has plenty to choose from but in Ernest Gray, recent Stratford scorer Gitche Gumee and Klitschko he appears to have three potentially smart individuals.

He said: “Ernest Gray had a problem last autumn with a crack in a pastern. He came back and won very well at Warwick. He is a soft ground horse though.

“I think in the Grade Two bumper at Aintree they went too quick and he was flat out down the back. Two and a half miles on softish ground will be him but he will go further. He is a staying novice but we like him. He has the potential to be a nice horse.

“Gitche Gumee is a likeable horse that won his bumper well and his first start over hurdles at Stratford on Thursday. I don’t know how good he is but we like him and he has improved a lot over the summer.

“Klitschko did an awful lot wrong at Huntingdon but still won. He surprised me how hard he pulled that day. He was still impressive. I won’t waste another run in a bumper with him and he will start in a novice hurdle. He definitely only wants two miles as he has plenty of pace."

One area King has particularly excelled in recent seasons is with his juvenile hurdles of which Paradias and the ex Joseph O’Brien-trained Spartan Army look two above average types.

He said: “Paradias is only just starting to learn to race properly as he has been inclined to over-race midway through his races.

“He will have a little break but we have already schooled him and he jumps very well so he will go juvenile hurdling.

“He is a horse I like. I won’t over race him as he could still be useful on the Flat. Spartan Army has only had three runs, but I loved him when I saw him at the sales and I’m delighted to have him.

“He has been gelded as well which I think will be the making off him. He schooled on the grass for the first time last week and he will be ready to roll in the next couple of weeks somewhere.”

While keeping his cards close to his chest regarding a potential dark horse to follow King believes Rayapour, who has recently joined his team from Willie Mullins, could be a nice prospect for the second half of the campaign.

He said: “I don’t know much about him but he was an expensive purchase a couple of years ago. He only arrived a few days ago and he has had issues with his pelvis in the past.

“He looks great and he has had a long break but I’m delighted to have him. We won’t be in a rush with him but he could be an exciting horse for the second half of the season."

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