In the latest in our Stable Tour series, Graham Clark pays a visit to Alan King to get the latest on his sizeable team for the 2024-25 jumps season.
The landscape at Barbury Castle Stables might be changing as trainer Alan King continues to increase his flat team, however National Hunt racing remains at the heartbeat of the yard.
While not quite possessing the numbers he once enjoyed, the father-of-two boasts a more select squad with definite focus shift towards quality over quantity.
Although King saddled just 36 winners last season there were several noticeable victories including Edwardstone securing Grade Two glory in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury and success for Favour And Fortune at the same level in the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr.
And with both of the aforementioned pair back for more alongside several promising bumper horses that are set to be campaigned over novice hurdles and a scattering of smart novice chasers a solid season looks to be on the cards for King.
He said “We have cut back numbers wise as we gave up the stables at Sharpridge. We have a smaller, but hopefully a more select team going forward. It is very much a focus on quality over quantity.
“Edwardstone winning the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury last season was amazing and we finished off with Helnwein winning at Sandown on the final day.
"We also unleashed a few promising bumper horses in Blues Singer, Mythical Moon, who won at Stratford the other day, and Don’t Mind If I Do, so there is a bit of hope there for the season ahead."
“It was a good run on his comeback at Wincanton. He is not the easiest horse as he is very free. He is back cantering now and he should win his races.
“If he just settled better he would be a much better horse. He is a horse that has always been pretty ferocious.
“He was pretty strong the other day, but he was always going to be as it was first run in a long time. Hopefully he will settle better with more racing."
"She ran quite a pleasing race at Warwick as she had been off for a while. She finished third that day and the ground was only just okay for her.
"She will benefit from a slower surface, and she will be much sharper for the run. The front two just got away from her and Tom (Cannon) just minded her a bit.
"Off her mark of 105 she should win. She will go down the handicap route off that mark and she will eventually get three miles."
“He is working away well. We will give him one run in a bumper and then decide what route to go after that. He has got better with every bit of work he has done.
“He is a lovely prospect whichever way we end up going. He has settled into life well here and he is a big fine horse that hopefully has a good future."
“He has just come in from Jessica Macey’s yard having won on his final start for her at Beverley and is now owned by the Owners Group. He has schooled very well.
“I’ve been very happy with his work. It was over two miles he won on soft ground at Beverley so we know he gets that trip and that he will handle soft ground.
“He will be out in a couple of weeks."
“He ran okay when he was fourth at Chepstow the other day. The handicapper has probably got him about right, but he always comes on for his first run.
“He will be on his travels and we will go for some of those regional nationals with him. He should win off his mark and I was really happy with him at Chepstow as he jumped very well."
“He was very impressive at Kempton on his debut, but I’m just waiting for the rain with him as I’m not going to risk him on watered ground.
"He quickened up well at Kempton, but how strong was the race I don’t know as it was for four year-olds only.
"He will stay down the bumper route for the time being and we will see where we are. I had him in at Ascot the other week, but I didn’t want to risk him on that ground. I’m not saying he wants a bog, but we just want safe ground as he is a horse that we think an awful lot of."
“She is a lovely filly that came in a little bit late because she won in the summer. She will probably go to Warwick for a mares bumper with a penalty.
“We will then see what happens after that as she is well schooled. I want to get another bumper run into her first to see if we end up going down the Listed route there.
“Provided we got the ground, which luckily we did at Southwell, I wanted to get her out to give her one run before we sent her away. She has always worked well and she has a great mind on her as nothing fazes her.”
“He was ferociously strong last week, but he still managed to run a good race. We will keep on going with him and hopefully the penny drops when he learns to settle.
“He is rated 89 and we will hopefully take advantage of that mark. He had a leg injury and he has been off for a year, which never helps, but he has been his own worst enemy."
“He is a lovely horse and I’m looking forward to him getting started, but we are just waiting for the rain. I’m not sure if he will start over two miles or two and a half miles, but he is one we’ve always liked.
“He didn’t come to me until the middle of January, but we were always going to target that sales race at Newbury and he stayed on very well.
“We all know what the winner has made since at the sales. He is a likeable horse. I think with these young horses they can do the talking and come through the grades."
“He won the Game Spirit well and I then thought he ran a mighty race behind Jonbon at Sandown as well.
“He is 10 turning 11, but he looks magnificent, and everyone thinks he is as good as he was. We will get him started in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham
“That has been the target to get him ready for the Shloer Chase and he has done a lot of work so he is ready to start.
“We will get him started in this and we will decide whether we go for the Tingle Creek or whether we have a go at stepping him up in trip again in the Peterborough Chase. He has been showing us that he is as good as he has been."
“He is now owned by the Million In Mind Partnership. I got him a couple of weeks ago from Jack and Mick Channon.
“He is only rated in the 60s, but he has won three handicaps on the flat this year already and he is a bonny little horse.
“He has only been with us a week and only had his first school over hurdles on Monday and it seemed to go okay. Mick has never put me far wrong over the years. He came recommended so we got him."
“He lost a shoe at Exeter on Friday and he was very sore after that as well. The ground was too quick for him and they just went too quick for him. I think you just have to put a line through that effort. We will now just wait for a bit of ease in the ground with him.
“He is not very consistent and you never quite know what you will get with him. He won twice last season and was a good second as well. He is a funny old devil.
“I would say a 0-135 handicap chase is about his limit as they got that half a stride steadier. I think the open handicaps get him out of his comfort zone. He is probably better carrying more weight against lesser horses as opposed to the other way around."
“It was a grand performance at Newbury last week from him. He was 10lb higher than he was in the same race a year ago. It was a lovely run and in another couple of strides he would have got up.
“He doesn’t take a lot of racing and I would like to go back to Newbury at the end of November if he is okay as he was a bit sore after Newbury the other day.
“The old boy is still running to a good level. He had been working well before Newbury so we thought he would go well.
“He doesn’t mind the ground he ran on the other day, but he would appreciate it soft or heavy so when the weather breaks that will be in his favour.
“He ran very well in the Pertemps Final last season, but for some reason Newbury just suits him. We will probably try and get him qualified for the Pertemps as that would give us a target, but we just have to take our time with him as he is quite delicate.”
“He didn’t win last season, but he ran some solid races in defeat over fences. He had a little hold up about a month ago, but he is back in strong work now.
“You would like to think he would go and win a handicap chase, when we find one, off his mark. He just bumped into one on several occasions last season and it didn’t quite happen for him, but hopefully it will this season.”
“Winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle last season was great. He had been running well all winter on ground that he was hating, but his class was getting him through.
“He had a little setback, but he is back cantering now so hopefully he will be one we can give one run to then go to the Betfair Hurdle, or something like that.
“We won’t see him this side of Christmas. All summer I had him targeted as a Greatwood Hurdle horse, but then he had that little hold up as he got cast and bruised his hock quite badly. We just had to re-group, but he now looks great.
“You could say the Betfair Hurdle, then maybe a County Hurdle then maybe back to Ayr for the Scottish Champion Hurdle. He has still got potential.
“It was always the plan to stay over hurdles this season.”
“She had a nice start back at Ludlow the other day where she stayed on well to finish second. The winner (Dameofthecotswolds) was pretty battle hardened and had already had a lot of racing. She will be a three mile chaser next season and that is what she is going to be very good at. She is learning to settle now and she will win races.
“It is possible she could be one for the mares’ novices’ Grade Two handicap hurdle at Newbury in March, but we will see how she gets on before that.”
“It was a very good performance from him at Chepstow [replay below]. He is a horse that loves to be fresh so we agreed there and then we would give him a nice few weeks easy then aim him at the December Gold Cup which he finished fourth in last year.
“He is just coming back into strong work. I don’t know what the difference is this season as he has been a notoriously bad work horse, but he has started to work pretty well this season.
“We’ve changed a few little things, but nothing major, however is just a different horse this season.
“He is a horse we won’t over race him as he does love to be fresh. He handled the good ground at Chepstow, but we always thought he wanted it heavy.
“I think we know how to train him and race him now. It is a case of running him fresh and giving him plenty of time between his runs.”
“We have been very happy with him and we decided that we would stay down the hurdle route this season. He schooled okay over fences at home last season, but he wasn’t great over them on the track.
"Watching him at Aintree on Saturday he was very quick over hurdles in getting from A to B over them. He is probably just a proper hurdler.
"Down the back straight he was barely picking up over them, but he was lovely and relaxed. He is in at Haydock in a couple of weeks, but I think that will come too soon. We will work back from the Pertemps Final with him.
“He could possibly go to the Friday of the Coral Gold Cup meeting, but Emitom might go there so we will see. He is one we will probably only run two or three times between now and March as he loves to be fresh.”
“It was great to see him win the Novices’ Championship FInal Handicap Hurdle at Sandown on the final day of the season.
“We only just got him qualified though. The weather intervened and a lot of the qualifiers were abandoned, but fortunately Taunton put one on and we finished second in it. After that we were always going to go to Sandown.
“He has schooled well over fences, but I would like a bit of rain before we get him started over them. He could go to Warwick in a couple of weeks in a race I like to run novice chasers. It was always the plan to go chasing as he started off in an Irish point-to-point.”
“I’ve been thrilled with him this season. He had been off a long time before the race at Kempton, but it was a good spot to start him back.
“I was delighted with him at Kempton. Despite having the attention of a loose horse he did it well and he seems to have come out of the race fine.
“There are no immediate plans for him. We will just creep away and find another novice hurdle and run him in one under a penalty.”
“He had some smart form in bumpers last season including when he finished third in a Listed event at Newbury in February and he wasn’t beaten too far in the Grade Two bumper up at Aintree.
“I thought he put in a good run on his first start over hurdles the other day at Bangor where the two mile trip around there would have been on the sharp side for him, however we wanted to kick on with him.
“We will now step him up to two and a half miles on his next start and hopefully he can build on his last time out effort.”
“He hurt himself in the Eider Chase and he just pulled some muscles in his back so we didn’t see him in the spring last season.
“He has been in a good place this season, but he is a funny old devil as he doesn’t show you much at home. You wouldn’t judge him on his homework as he doesn’t give anything away.
“It was a solid run he put in at Bangor the other day and I was very happy with him as three miles around there would have been sharp enough for him on that ground.
“He might now go to the Becher Chase, which is a race we have won before with West End Rocker.
“I’d be thinking he is one more for the Classic Chase after Christmas. We could then look at going back to either the Eider Chase or the Midlands Grand National.”
“I was very pleased with him at Newbury last week. He was a good novice hurdler last season and he jumped okay over hurdles.
“When we went to school him over fences six weeks ago I wasn’t sure what would happen.
“The moment he saw the fences he absolutely loved them. Bar the first one in the straight at Newbury he was pretty faultless.
“Slightly slower ground would help him, but he doesn’t want it heavy. We ran him in the Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury last season and he never really travelled on the deep ground.
“We will give him a few weeks and see what is around. We won’t get carried away just yet, but hopefully he is a horse that will progress."
“He finished second at Plumpton last season, but he lost his place going down the hill and he stayed on really well.
“I wasn’t going to put him in the race at Plumpton that he ended up winning last time out, but there wasn’t many in it so we popped him in and he was a different horse.
“It was only a three runner race, but he couldn’t do it any better. He is now up to 126, but again we won’t get carried away.
“He is a horse that could progress when we go up in trip with him as two and a half miles would be his minimum. He will stay all day.”
"We had three very good bumper horses last season and he was every bit as good as them.
“He slightly over raced at Kempton so we gave him another run at Bangor and he got beaten by one of Nicky Henderson’s called Doctor Kildare, but I think it was a decent race as the third horse has since come out and won.
“He is a big horse and he stands 17.2hh. We are going to give him plenty of time as he is only just coming back into cantering exercise this week.
“He will run somewhere in the first half of December. We will take our time with him and not over race him as he has got a lot of potential.
“He couldn’t get out at Stratford and he did well to quicken up between them going to the last. He was quite brave for a horse having his first run over hurdles. I was pretty hopeful going to Stratford, but we will take our time with him now.”
“He ran a lovely race up at Aintree on his debut over hurdles. I had lunch before the race with Jonjo O’Neill and he thinks the world of Mister Meggit.
“He came there to win, but just bumped into a good horse, however it was a lovely start.
“We will give him three or four weeks now and find another race like that, but he should be capable of winning some novice hurdles.
“He was over racing in his bumpers, but I was pleased to see how he settled at Aintree on Saturday and I thought David (Maxwell) gave him a lovely ride as he stayed on very well.”
“He might go back over hurdles now. I thought he ran okay in the November Handicap at Doncaster. I know he finished 12th but he was only beaten just over six lengths. He came from right out the back and stayed on.
“We will probably give him a couple of runs over hurdles then give him a mid winter break ready for the next flat season.
“I would have thought he should be good enough to win off his mark of 121 over hurdles.
“He has run well in those big handicaps on the flat over the summer, but he hasn’t had the best of luck in some of them. He should be able to do some damage off his hurdle mark.”
“He finished seventh on his debut at Ffos Las on Sunday, but he just got a bit tired late on and we probably rode him a bit too aggressively, however he has run well.
“He took a blow coming to the last, but he will come on plenty for that. He probably wants slower ground, however we needed to get him started.
“He started off over two and a half miles the other day and I would say we will be working up in trip with him as he is a stayer.”
“He was perhaps a bit unlucky at Market Rasen on his first start over fences, but I was still very happy with him and the ground was only just right.
“Two miles and three furlongs around Market Rasen was probably sharp enough for him, but he is a horse that at the moment needs to go right handed.
“He has come out of that race, but he won’t go anywhere until the rain comes. He did have a pop over fences at home last week, which was the first time since his run, and he will need a couple more schools.
“I’m not sure where we go with him next, but it will either be over two and a half miles or two miles six furlongs, however he will get three miles by the end of the year I’m sure.
“I’m hoping by the end of the season he will go left handed, but for the time being we will just play to his strengths for the time being.”
“He ran a really good race to finish second on the flat at Kempton on his last start which qualifies him for a final back there.
“We will either go there or go back over hurdles to the Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot just before Christmas which he won back in 2021.
“He is far from finished yet. Over hurdles he seems to be getting quicker. He didn’t seem to stay two and a half miles at Chepstow so will come back to two miles over hurdles if we go that way. Although he stays very well on the flat hurdles just seem to light him up.”
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