My Way De Solzen Primed For Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle

Alan King is set to field his star hurdler My Way De Solzen in what is shaping up to be a typically high-class renewal of the £60,000 Grade Two Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham´s Festival Trials Day on Saturday, January 28.

My Way De Solzen emerged as a leading contender for the three-mile hurdle championship with a five-length victory over Neptune Collonges in the Grade One Long Walk Hurdle at Chepstow last month.

Reigning champion Inglis Drever was beaten when falling two out that day, and is now side-lined with a tendon injury. In his absence, King´s charge will attempt to enhance his claims for championship honours with victory in the prestigious three-mile contest.

The Barbury Castle trainer revealed: 'The plan is to go for the Bryne Bros Cleeve Hurdle. He did his first bit of work back on Saturday morning and he´s in good form. He´ll work again this week.'

The six-year-old relished the testing ground at Chepstow and King is hoping that conditions will again suit his charge in Cheltenham´s contest.

He commented: 'The softer the better from his point of view but hopefully it will at least be soft enough to let him run. It all depends on the ground really.'

As to the future, King is looking to the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at The Festival on Thursday, March 16, before possibly sending his charge over fences next term.

He said: 'I´d be hopeful going into The Festival, especially as one or two of the big guns have dropped away, but the ground is key to him.

'I´d imagine he´ll go chasing next season but we´ll just see how he gets on in his next couple of runs before making any firm decisions.'

King´s 2004 Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle winner Crystal D´Ainay was fourth to Eurotrek in the totesport Classic Chase at Warwick on Saturday but could be aimed at the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at The Festival, a race in which he was third to Iris´s Gift two years ago.

King reported: 'Crystal D´Ainay is fine. He´ll probably revert to hurdles now for a couple of runs. He might run in the Rendlesham Hurdle - run at Haydock this year - with a view that, if he ran well there, he´d go for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.'

Last year marked the first running of the Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle as a three-mile contest, having previously been run over two and a half miles, and the race went to the Sue Smith-trained Patriarch Express.

The gelding prevailed in a typical Cheltenham thriller, getting the better of the Martin Pipe-trained Korelo by a head in an exciting two-way tussle from the final flight, but a repeat bid is only a possibility according to Smith.

The Bingley trainer revealed: 'I´m not 100% sure yet whether he´ll go for the Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle. It could be a possibility that he gets an entry but he hasn´t run for a long time, so it´s probably quite a high target first time back. I don´t know yet but he´s very well.'

The classy nine-year-old has not raced since injuring himself in the Rendlesham Hurdle at Kempton in February but is being aimed at the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at The Festival.

Smith explained: 'He struck into himself at Kempton last year and it has taken us a lot longer than anticipated. Because he´s obviously a very nice horse, we´ve opted to give him the amount of time he needed.

'The target would be the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. He´s in good nick with himself. He schooled this morning and he´s very good.'

Byrne Bros, a leading concrete frame contractor, has sponsored the last five renewals of the Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle, which is the premier trial for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at The Festival.

The Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle is one of the highlights of the Festival Trials Day staged on Saturday, January 28, which features the £80,000 Letheby & Christopher Chase and the £110,000 Victor Chandler Chase, which is on loan from Ascot.

The high-class seven-race card carries total prize money of £386,000 - a record for the day.