'We hope he's a Triumph prospect' - King impressed with Spartan Army success

Wednesday: Wetherby

Alan King is hopeful Spartan Army can develop into a Triumph Hurdle contender after he cruised to victory in the 2m maiden event on his jumping debut.

A 170,000gns purchase, the three-year-old joined King following three appearances on the Flat in Ireland for Joseph O'Brien and the future looks bright according to the winning trainer.

He said: "It was only the fourth race of his life. He’s not your typical battle-hard Flat horse, but he’s a big, scopey horse and he has a lot of potential.

"I’m thinking he may go to Kempton over Christmas for the introductory hurdle and then we’ll go from there, but we hope he’s a Triumph prospect. We’ll creep away quietly now, but it was a good start."

King admitted to having pre-race nerves due to the heavy ground, but Spartan Army quickly put them to bed when winning by six lengths.

"He did everything right. His work and his schooling have been very good since he joined the yard," King said.

"I was slightly nervous starting him on this heavy ground, but we had to get him out and he coped with it very well. He’ll improve on better ground, but it was an encouraging run."

Spartan Army was cut to 25-1 (from 33) by Paddy Power for the Triumph Hurdle in March.

Form continues

Olly Murphy added to his early-season form when teaming up with Sean Bowen to complete a double.

Parliament Hill landed the opening leg of a 35-1 double in the 1m7f novice handicap chase before No Risk Des Flos won the feature 1m7f handicap chase to provide Murphy with a 27th victory of the season.

Results, replays and analysis

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