Alan King bullish about William Hill Trophy pair

TRAINER Alan King, who won the William Hill Trophy Handicap Chase with Fork Lightning in 2004, goes into Tuesday's race with "two live candidates" in the form of exciting novice Bensalem and former Festival winner Nenuphar Collonges.

Alan King: "Bensalem's worked well"

  PICTURE: Edward Whitaker  

Bensalem, the sponsors' 6-1 second favourite for the race, also has an entry in Wednesday's RSA Chase, for which he is as short as 14-1 with Blue Square, but King thinks the seven-year-old's rating might mean the William Hill is too good an opportunity to miss.

"Bensalem is likely to go for the race, although I haven't totally ruled out the RSA Chase," King wrote in his exclusive Weekender column.

"Basically, I am monitoring the situation with Punchestowns, who was lame at the end of last week.

"Bensalem has not been badly treated by the handicapper and I would be very disappointed if he doesn't prove to be quite a bit better than his current mark.

"I worked all of my Cheltenham team on Saturday and he worked exceptionally well."

Nenuphar Collonges, winner of the Grade 1Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle in 2008, was third in the William Hill last year and King added: "He hasn't been out since the Hennessy in November, as his intended target at Doncaster was frozen off.

"He is definitely best fresh and I am very happy with him, although he is probably high enough in the weights."

Read Alan King's exclusive column for all the latest news from Barbury Castle - every Wednesday only in the Racing Post Weekender

BUY NOW: Racing Post's Cheltenham Festival Guide 2010 - 192 pages packed with expert advice and race-by-race guides

BUY NOW: The Update's Cheltenham 2010: the ultimate guide - a 96-page paper packed with Racing Post form, essential stats and top-class insight from an outstanding stable of experts