King's cavalry ready for the charge

Every ridge of the Marlborough Downs seemed to have its own white horse yesterday, their limbs sketched across the turf by the last vestiges of snow.

But there was nothing evanescent about the formidable cavalry congregating in the lee of Barbury Castle, the Iron Age hill fort now being revived as a redoubt of National Hunt racing. It is here that Alan King has established himself as one of the elite Cheltenham trainers, winning three races in each of the past two years, and at his media open morning he was able to parade no fewer than 21 contenders for next month's Festival.

The thaw matched his spirits, too. Up here King and his team had been especially vulnerable to the Siberian weather, so there had been corresponding relief when Voy Por Ustedes, a Festival winner twice already, produced such a carefree rehearsal at Ascot on Saturday. "I got myself into a terrible state, wondering whether to let him take his chance in ground like that," King admitted. "A horse as good as him, such a great servant to the yard. But thank goodness we did. It was a joy to watch – well, it was in the evening, when I knew the result. The old spring was there, and he looked right back to his best. It was very tough for the staff, during the snows, but the way our horses ran over the weekend suggests that all the hard work has paid off."

Having been deposed by a real monster in the Queen Mother Champion Chase last year, Voy Por Ustedes will avoid Master Minded this time by heading for the Ryanair Chase instead. As it happens, some day King expects that a longer trip will also suit another dual Festival champion, Katchit. For the time being, however, the only ruse he is contemplating in his defence of the Smurfit Champion Hurdle is a pair of blinkers.

"I'll see how he's doing when we really get stuck into him, because we haven't done much with him since he came back from his midwinter break," King said. "But it is something I have thought about. It may be that Katchit is crying out for two and a half miles. That's why he is so very good in a fast-run race at Cheltenham, with its stiff finish. But he looks tremendously well, after a month away with Richard Pitman, and seems to have that old bounce back.

"For some reason the spark wasn't there earlier in the season. I made a mistake in running him under a big weight at Wincanton, and it seemed to knock him back. I do think Binocular is going to be extremely hard to beat, especially if the ground dries out, but take him out and it's wide open. I'm sure Katchit won't disgrace himself."

These Festival veterans bear the standard, but there could be no mistaking the fact that King is just as anxious that the next three weeks go smoothly for perhaps the best team of young hurdlers he has ever assembled. Karabak heads for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle after giving weight and a thrashing to another good prospect at Ascot last month, while Medermit and Bensalem look solid contenders for the championships over two and three miles respectively. And, in a division that always plays to his strengths, he has his usual strong hand in the JCB Triumph Hurdle – a race in which he has had two winners, a second and a third in the last four years.

"I'm particularly excited about Walkon," he admitted. "He was giving 7lb to the Triumph favourite, Zaynar, when beaten for the only time, at Newbury, and he has improved an awful lot for that run. I think he'd compare very favourably to the likes of Franchoek [second last year] and Penzance [the 2005 winner] and I couldn't be more pleased with his wellbeing at the moment, both mentally and physically. He is thoroughly enjoying life and has a tremendous attitude to everything he does."

King candidly admits that Blazing Bailey, third in the Triumph a couple of years ago, will have his work cut out among what he considers a vintage bunch of stayers in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. Indeed, he will seek sanctuary over fences next season. In the meantime things could yet get hotter still at the Festival, following Catch Me's leisurely success in the Ladbrokes Boyne Hurdle at Navan yesterday.

Unfortunately the intermediate distance of that race – two miles and five furlongs – still left Edward O'Grady between two stools. "That was much easier than I anticipated," the trainer said. "I really don't know where he'll go, although I'd love to go to Cheltenham. If it came up soft, I'd run him in the Champion Hurdle. I just don't know how bullish I am about the stayers' race, but it's a nice problem to have."