King Of Queens

King Of Queens impressed in winning the two-mile handicap hurdle at Cork on Sunday on his first run over hurdles for almost four years.

Weak in the market beforehand, the Tom Mullins-trained gelding travelled really powerfully in the hands of Ruby Walsh, and he didn’t jump badly given that he hadn’t run over hurdles for so long. He gradually crept closer around the home turn, still under a tight hold from Walsh, he eased to the front on the run to the second last, kicked on after it, jumped the last well and was always doing enough to hold off Galianna. The winning time was good, almost bang on standard on good ground, and all his form from the past was on soft or heavy ground, so that bodes well.

This was a really nice return to hurdling and he should be able to go on from this. It was just his seventh run over hurdles, he has been raised 10lb to 126, but that still leaves him really well treated on his old form and will be of interest again off that mark. Third in the Grade 1 juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown in December 2008, he had been off the track for over three years before he returned on the flat at Killarney in September. That run, and another run on the flat at Galway soon afterwards, set him up nicely for this. He is still only seven, and he may be capable of fulfilling a large part of the promise he showed as a juvenile now.

21st October 2012