Alan King reigns as Who Dares Wins proves too hot in Northumberland Plate

It was scarcely jumping weather but trainer Alan King thwarted the Flat boys on the hottest day of the year in a rare trip to Gosforth Park.

As temperatures soared, the man better known for his jumpers and who reckoned his last visit to Newcastle came in the days when he was assistant to David Nicholson, took himself off the cold list as Who Dares Wins finally landed the big prize he had long threatened.

However there was heartbreak for the locally trained Dubawi Fifty, who suffered the agony of being caught in the final strides and denied a valuable prize for the second time in as many races.

It was only in the last few yards of the £150,000 2m½f contest that Tom Marquand asserted on Who Dares Wins, who had been placed in the last three Chester Cups and also went close over jumps at the Cheltenham and Aintree festivals.

"This horse has had his big day coming for a long time," said the jockey, who has known the stayer for a long time. "I won on him when I was a 5lb claimer at Richard Hannon's, he was my first big ride and I chinned Frankie [Dettori] on the line one day at Sandown. And now he's provided me with a Northumberland Plate.

"Early on I wasn't overly happy but I found a better position and from the bottom of the straight I was always pretty confident I was going to get there. He takes a while to get going, but when he hits top stride he's pretty good."

Watching from the sidelines, King, who has been training in his own right since 1999, had been less confident he was about to end 50 days without a winner on the Flat.

"He couldn't go the pace early coming out of the stalls and he wasn't as far forward as I hoped he'd be but Tom didn't panic," the trainer said. "For most of the race I thought the line was going to come too soon.

"At the furlong I thought he was going to be placed, which was great, but he just pulled him out and the horse has run on again.

"He's been a marvellous horse, placed at Cheltenham and Aintree and in three Chester Cups. We've had a quiet spell, we've had a lot of placed horses but we've gone 50 or 60 runners on the Flat without a winner so I needed that."

King, who has trained multiple Grade 1 winners over jumps, reckons to get the same buzz from a good winner in either code.

But he showed his roots by saying: "Who Dares Wins will be a very exciting novice chaser, that's the plan for the autumn. I don't think he'd be quick enough for an Ebor. He could go for the Cesarewitch but he wants a bit of dig in the ground."

Alan King is all smiles after Who Dares Wins lands the Betfair Northumberland PlateCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

King inherited the winner from Richard Hannon in 2015 and Henry Ponsonby, who heads the winning syndicate, said: "We've had him since he was a yearling and I want to give a lot of credit to Richard Hannon, who allowed us the jockey. There was a big one in the horse and he got it."

The winning trainer was one of the first to commiserate with Karen McLintock after Dubawi Fifty was caught close home on his first run since suffering the same fate in the Ascot Stakes last June.

The losing trainer accentuated the positive, and said: "I'm over the moon with him. He's such a star. He makes me so proud and deserves to win a big one.

"To be beaten the same way at Royal Ascot last year and then here again, it was so sad. One day he'll get there, I'm sure."

Asked what words King had had for her, she said: "Alan said 'I'd say sorry but I wouldn't be meaning it!'"

Ante-post gamble Gibbs Hill was pulled up and jockey Andrea Atzeni said: "He got a bit upset behind the stalls. He travelled well into the race but never picked up when the pace lifted. I wasn't happy with him so I eased him up, but he's fine now."

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