Alan King: that was something special - I really couldn't see Trueshan doing it

Even Alan King is still finding it hard to take in Trueshan's win in the Northumberland Plate and he admitted on Sunday he had been "very surprised" to see him start red-hot 3-1 favourite.

The trainer could not see his Group 1-winning stayer defying a BHA rating of 120 at Newcastle on Saturday and was dropping him back to handicap company as a prep race for the Goodwood Cup.

Yet the six-year-old put up one of the greatest weight-carrying performances of modern times on the Flat, shouldering 10st 8lb and conceding upwards of 19lb to his 19 rivals yet coming through to win by half a length under Hollie Doyle, who became the first woman to ride the winner of the £150,000 showpiece.

He ran to a Racing Post rating of 128, which is the highest achieved by a stayer in the last decade and the best achieved in a British or Irish handicap in RPR history.

"I'm still finding it quite difficult to take in," said King. "It was something quite special to see. I was in a restaurant just outside Lambourn with John Law and his family, who'd flown down from Aberdeen to see their horses, and we had a very good celebration.

"When I saw the price he was, I was very surprised. I thought he'd run very well but I was thinking I'd have been very happy if he was in the first four or first six. I couldn't really see him winning off that mark."

Trueshan had finished sixth off a mark of 118 in last year's Plate and King was forced to repeat the unconventional move of running a top-class Flat horse in a handicap by the firmish ground that ruled him out of the Gold Cup and Queen Alexandra at Royal Ascot.

"The jumps boys do it," he said. "If you think of Desert Orchid and Denman and going right back to Arkle in the Hennessy. And I had no option, I had to get a run into him.

"Hollie was firmly of the opinion, both after his first win of the season at Nottingham and yesterday, that he's improved again since last year and you'd have to think the form book says that."

Alan King: 'Hollie was firmly of the opinion that he's improved again since last year and you'd have to think the form book says that'Credit: Edward Whitaker

Doyle was scoring her seventh win from eight rides on Trueshan and King felt her experience was key.

"Once she was available, we never really considered claiming off him this time as I felt he needs knowing, which is no criticism whatsoever of Rhys Clutterbuck, who rode him last year," he said.

"He and Hollie are a great partnership. He was a little bit keen down the back but she knows him so well."

King is now hoping for rain so that conditions will allow Trueshan to bid to repeat last year's ground-breaking first Group 1 victory in the Goodwood Cup, for which he is a best-priced 11-4 favourite.

"He came back safely last night and now that he's had a run he can have a quiet week or ten days and then we can build him back up towards Goodwood," said the trainer.

Hollie Doyle wins the Goodwood Cup on Trueshan last yearCredit: Getty Images

"If the ground isn't right there, we have the Lonsdale at York, the Doncaster Cup and races in France later on. The important thing is we got the run into him yesterday, which sets him up for the rest of the season.

"The pressure is off as he'd been simmering away for a few weeks because he was ready to run in the Henry II Stakes. Keeping a horse on the go without running him is hard."

The afternoon had started tragically for the yard with Catbird Seat suffering a fatal injury in the preceding Northumberland Vase consolation race.

"It's the ups and downs of racing and it was so sad to lose him," said King. "No horse deserves that. He was a big softie and it was very upsetting.

"His owner Dan Gilbert has had horses a long time. I spoke to him this morning and, while we appreciate these things can happen, it's still hard to take."

Now read these:

Trueshan defies huge weight for 'unreal' Northumberland Plate victory

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'Horses just run for her' - high praise for Hollie Doyle from fellow riders

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