Alan King senses Katchit can recapture his glory days

New spirit: Katchit, ridden by Robert Thornton, has showed signs of a return to his old form

13 April 2012

In common with most of the top trainers, Alan King does not bet. But the canny Scotsman, who has managed a winner at the Cheltenham Festival for the last six seasons, admits he was "very tempted" to avail himself of the 33-1 that bookmakers were offering last week about Katchit taking tomorrow's feature race, the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.

Katchit has not won since capturing the Champion Hurdle crown under Robert Thornton two years ago but watching him in a final blow-out for the Festival high up on the Wiltshire Downs, it was clear the gelding's enthusiasm is still there.

"I have not seen him work better than that since he did his last gallop before he took the title," said King. "People keep saying he is not the force he was but while he has maybe lost a bit of his speed, he is fizzing just now and I am sure that he will bounce off the drying ground.

"Obviously, Big Buck's is a worthy champion, but Choc' [Thornton] reckons Katchit is a 7lb better horse at Cheltenham, where he has won five times. He comes alive when he sees that hill, and if he is hanging on to the favourite's coat-tails at the last it will be interesting. I have been itching to step him up in trip and plenty of Triumph Hurdle winners need further as they get older. Spring has always been Katchit's time of the year and you never know..."

However, the bookies believe King has much better prospects of lifting the World Hurdle with the JP McManus-owned Karabak, who is second favourite to Paul Nicholls' Big Buck's at 7-1.

"Like Katchit, Karabak will love this ground," said King. "We have three and a half lengths to find with Big Buck's on Long Walk Hurdle form at Newbury, but it was heavy that day, and though our fellow is a fragile horse who cannot run too often, he is going there fresh and obviously it would be great to have a winner for JP."

Having spent 14 years with the late David Nicholson, it is no surprise Cheltenham means "everything" to King. While he has been lucky enough to have 11 winners at the most prestigious jump racing fixture, King takes nothing for granted as his experiences 12 months ago and in the winter illustrate.

He said: "We took a fistful of fancied horses there last year but we peppered the wire all week and had no fewer than seven placed without a winner until Oh Crick got us out of jail in the Grand Annual Chase, the very last race of the meeting.

"Everything is geared towards these four days in March but precious little has gone right for us this winter and I am still not entirely happy with the horses, so we haven't got our customary optimism. We had the muscle enzyme problem in the autumn, which wiped out November and December, and then a combination of the snow and a virus, which has come at the wrong time, has left us never certain just how they will run.

"You need to be 100 per cent to win at the Cheltenham Festival — 99 per cent is not good enough — but we have still got some decent ammunition to fire with several solid each-way chances in some of the handicaps.

"For example, Tarotino is overpriced in the Byrne Group Plate on Thursday while I think the three miles will suit The Betchworth Kid in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle on Friday."

King felt that Mille Chief, ante-post favourite for Friday's Triumph Hurdle, was the Wayne Rooney of his team and virtually everyone that does bet in his Barbury Castle yard was on at 25-1.

However, any hopes of cashing in ended a fortnight ago when the exciting young hurdler went lame, though the trainer stresses that it is "nothing major".

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