King collects in Ten Up Chase with first runner for McManus Two-horse trainer Connor King had a dream result with his first J.P. McManus-runner today, winning Navan’s Grade 2 William Hill Bet Builder Ten Up Novice Chase with the leading owner’s recent acquisition Oscars Brother (6/4f). Formerly owned by the King family’s Mak King Racing Syndicate, Oscars Brother had won the similarly-classified Florida Pearl Chase in November and, having been purchased by McManus before Christmas, today reappeared when making all the running in the four-runner race. With McManus’ retained jockey Mark Walsh riding eventual runner-up The Wallpark, trainer’s brother Daniel King was legged up on just his second ride for the owner and delivered with an easy six lengths-success. Runner-up The Wallpark, third in last March’s Stayers Hurdle, quickened eye-catchingly on the run-in and while today’s fifth chase appearance qualifies him for Cheltenham handicaps, it likely pushes him beyond the 145-rating threshold for novices. Winning trainer King, Ireland’s champion Flat apprentice jockey of 2013 and ‘15, reported "it was a brilliant performance and was nice to get it out of the way. He loved the ground, had the ears pricked the whole way and it looked like he could have gone around again. "He's a very easy horse to ride, so I just leave it up to Dan. He just likes to do his own thing but, if someone wanted to give us a lead, we would have been happy enough. He seems to be taking racing well, is improving and he jumped great." He added “after the last day, we had this race pencilled in and I suppose we can make more plans now. He takes his racing well, so we will see how he is during the week and go from there. "The timing of the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham would be good. He keeps improving, so you never know where he could end up." Regarding his Aintree Grand National entry, he said "we did that entry last week and while we would need one more run to qualify, but we still have time on our side." Quotes from Michael Graham
