King tips Medermit for Champion

Scots-born King welcomed over 50 members of the media to his annual pre-Cheltenham stable visit yesterday, nominating Medermit, Bensalem, Mille Chief and The Betchworth Kid as his four strongest chances from a team which will number over 20.

Just a neck separated Medermit and Go Native last spring as King's grey ate into his Irish rival's advantage up the hill in the Supreme Novices'.

The latter is totesport's 100-30 joint favourite alongside fellow Irish rival Solwhit for the Champion after his 'Fighting Fifth' and Christmas Hurdle wins, while Medermit is down to 9-1 after defeating the reigning title holder, Punjabi, at Haydock last month.

"After running third in the Greatwood, we thought we would give him one more go over hurdles. He then ran very well in the old Bula so we thought we would have a crack at the Champion," explained King. "We had schooled him over fences but that can wait now. I thought he was very unlucky at Cheltenham last year when he was hampered at the last and I am surprised the way he has progressed this season.

"I have not seen him look better. Solwhit and Go Native, the two Irish horses, look the main dangers. The Champion Hurdle has always been his target and I do think he has a very strong each-way chance."

King's yard is back riding high after a slow start to the season, a fact borne out by his seven winners in the last fortnight.

While King has a strong team to go to war with in the Cotswolds, the trainer suffered through the early part of the campaign due to a muscle enzyme problem which ravaged his string.

"I don't think I enjoyed a day in December and there was one day at Newbury when I could have given up," he recalls. "We always have a fair idea how the horses will perform but at that time I had no idea."

King's record in the JCB Triumph Hurdle speaks for itself with Penzance winning in 2005 and Katchit doing the same in 2007, while Franchoek and Walkon have finished second in the last two years.

Mille Chief is his representative this time around and he is just 4-1 with Coral to justify his lofty reputation at Barbury Castle.

King said: "He has far more speed than Franchoek and more gears than Katchit. Franchoek, Blazing Bailey and Walkon have all been placed in the Triumph but Mille Chief would murder them at home. He is as good as we have had based on his homework and I hope he can do it on the track."

Katchit returned to Cheltenham the following year to strike in the Champion Hurdle and will be running at the Festival for the fourth time when taking in the three-mile Ladbrokes World Hurdle.

He will be joined in the race by stablemate Karabak, who emerged as one of the chief threats to odds-on favourite Big Buck's when finishing second to the market leader at Newbury over Christmas.

William Hill have introduced Bensalem at 7-1 for their National Hunt Chase, a race in which King thinks the seven-year-old will be competitively weighted.

Voy Por Ustedes has contributed to two of King's 11 Festival wins having landed the Arkle (2006) and Queen Mother Champion Chase 12 months later.

The nine-year-old was just touched off in the Ryanair Chase last spring and again has the middle-distance contest as his target. "He is older but still has plenty of spark and I am pretty sure his engine and heart are still there," King continued. "I have certainly not lost faith in him and he will go to the Ryanair."

Another King holds high hopes for is The Betchworth Kid who will step up to three miles in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle.