King holds Triumph key

14 April 2012

The Triumph Hurdle will be the latest ante-post market to come in for a major shake-up when Alan King sends Trouble At Bay for the Steel Plate Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham tomorrow.

King trains a clutch of Triumph possibles at his Barbury Castle base in Wiltshire, but Trouble At Bay is the pick judged on form shown so far and has caused his trainer to change direction because of his wellbeing at home over the last two weeks.

He said: "My original plan was to give him a break, but he's been so fresh at home that I've decided to give him another run.

"Obviously, the Triumph Hurdle remains his big target, but tomorrow's race is a good prize in its own right. He handled the track really well when he won at the last meeting there and every time he runs it helps give him that bit more hurdling experience."

King also has a strong contender for tomorrow's Miles Gosling Handicap Chase in Bear On Board but is anxious to see rain in order to let the Haydock and Bangor winner take his chance.

He said: "Bear On Board is in great form, but the ground as it stands is probably a bit quick for him. I might just declare him and hope for the best, but, Cheltenham always seems to miss the rain these days even when the forecast says they should get it."

Weight, rather than weather, is the worry for connections of Iris Royal, who heads the weights for tomorrow's Unicoin Homes Chase.

Nicky Henderson's gelding made it three out of three for the season with a battling success in the Tripleprint Gold Cup at Cheltenham last time but may be given longer to recover from that according to his owner's racing manager Barry Simpson.

He said: "Iris Royal is progressive and has been in terrific form, but he isn't very big to be humping 11-12 and we have other options in the new year which include the Racing Post Chase at Kempton."

Meanwhile, Guillaume Macaire will bid to banish memories of a miserable Christmas by running one of the most exciting young chasers in France at Cheltenham tomorrow.

The gregarious French handler is still trying to come to terms with Jair du Cochet's wretched performance as favourite for the King George VI Chase at Kempton but has no intention of letting the disappointment sour his affection for jump racing in Britain.

Golden Flight is the next raider making the journey from the seaside resort of Royan on the Atlantic coast, and Macaire is hoping that tomorrow's Ian Williams' Owners Novices' Chase provides a springboard to the Cheltenham Festival.

He said: "Golden Flight is unbeaten over fences at Auteuil and won an interesting Grade Three contest there last time. I want to test him in England and if he's good enough then he will go for the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham.

"Chases in England are completely different from those in France, so Golden Flight must adapt to the new job, but he has schooled over English style fences and went okay."

The race promises to provide some valuable clues to establishing a pecking order among the staying novices, and leading jumps owner David Johnson is looking forward to testing Golden Flight with either Therealbandit or Our Vic.

Therealbandit is among the market leaders for the SunAlliance Chase after a hugely impressive Cheltenham success, while Our Vic is regarded as a potential star despite never having jumped a fence in public.

Johnson said: "Therealbandit hadn't schooled so well at home and it was a bit of a surprise when he won so easily. We're keeping our fingers crossed that he can do it again"

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