Thornton to ride Twist in Queen Mother

Robert Thornton has been cleared to ride Twist Magic in next month's Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham

Alan King's stable jockey, who rode Voy Por Ustedes to land the Champion Chase in 2007, will take the ride for Paul Nicholls, whose stable jockey Ruby Walsh committed himself to Master Minded, the odds-on favourite for the March 17 contest.

Champion trainer Nicholls had revealed that, with Walsh opting for defending champion Master Minded, the connections of Twist Magic wanted Thornton for their horse, who is 13/2 third favourite with Paddy Powers.

The potential stumbling block was the possibility of Thornton being required to ride for King, but that was removed on Sunday.

"I talked it over with ‘Choc' and he wants to ride Twist Magic, which is fine with me, and I've called Paul to tell him of his availability," said King.

"I'm unlikely to have a runner in the race this year, but if we do decide to send Oh Crick to the race there will be no problem with Wayne [Hutchinson] taking the ride."

The news was greeted with delight at Ditcheat, with Nicholls saying: "Alan rang me to say that Robert could ride Twist Magic and I related that news to the owners, who are thrilled."