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Cheltenham Home 5mq12
Alan King Stable Visit
01/03/12
Born into a farming family in Lanarkshire on December 13, 1966, Alan was a member of a local pony club and also competed on the show jumping circuit before ing David Nicholson in Gloucestershire as an amateur jockey in 1985, having previously worked for John Wilson in his native Scotland.
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He managed to finish third in a couple of hunter chases, but soon realised that race riding was not for him and served as assistant for 15 years to Nicholson, from whom he took over the licence at Jackdaws Castle stables near Temple Guiting on December 3, 1999.
He only had to wait until the following day for Mini Moo Min to provide him with a first success at Towcester. In that rookie season, Alan also saddled Relkeel to take a third Bula Hurdle (now the StanJames.com International) at Cheltenham a week after breaking his duck and the following weekend captured the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot with Anzum, who formed part of a four-timer. He also sent out Go Ballistic to finish second behind See More Business in the King George VI Chase at Kempton.
Alan was based at Jackdaws Castle, then owned by Colin Smith, until the end of that 1999/2000 season, when he moved (June 1, 2000) to the Barbury Castle estate near Marlborough, Wiltshire, which was bought by one of his principal owners, Nigel Bunter, and the trainer has since gone from strength to strength from that base.
Horses of the calibre of Stromness, winner of the Grade One Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree in 2002, Spendid, victorious in the Grade Two Long Distance Hurdle at Ascot the same year, and 2004 Grade Two Cleeve Hurdle victor Crystal D'Ainay helped to cement Alan's position as one of the most talented and successful trainers in Britain. He gained 66 successes during the 2004/05 season and came within three of that total the following term. A memorable campaign in of both numbers and quality in the 2006/07 season saw him end the term with 92 winners, while there was another significant leap forward in 2007/08 when 128 successes were seen.
Alan's first win at The Festival came in 2004, when Fork Lightning won the JLT Specialty Handicap Chase and the following year the trainer landed the JCB Triumph Hurdle with Penzance.
The 2006 Cheltenham Festival saw Alan secure a Grade One double, as Voy Por Ustedes captured the Racing Post Arkle Chase and My Way De Solzen battled to victory in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.
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