Alan King: 'I had to find something else - the Flat was a way of surviving'

We've not even had a chance to get stuck into a full-on grumble about the enduring lunacy of the fixture list when Alan King stalks off in an unfettered practical demonstration of his despair.

Venting your spleen in the newspapers is one thing, but this is the sharp end, where a trainer feels most keenly the pointed effects of one of the game's longest-running and most tedious debates, and his frustration is, shall we say, evident.

There was one jumps meeting in Britain [at Ayr] the day before my visit, there's one today, one tomorrow, and then three the day after, with all of King's favoured jockeys seemingly heading for venues other than the ones he wants them to be at. It's inconsiderate and it's annoying and the trainer isn't best pleased.