Honeyball opts for National Hunt Chase with Kilbeg King

Adam Morgan
February 21, 2024 5:38 pm

Nine-year-old has already shown he has the required touch of class.

Will Biddick is set to get the leg-up on Kilbeg King at the Cheltenham Festival after Anthony Honeyball stated his intention to go for the National Hunt Chase with his Reynoldstown runner-up.

The National Hunt Chase is a race in which both Honeyball and Biddick have previous, having joined forces with Ms Parfois in 2018, leading inside the final half-furlong only to be pipped close home by Willie Mullins’ Rathvinden.

Although Biddick has a Festival winner to his name as both a trainer and a jockey, Honeyball is still searching for his first strike at the Prestbury Park showpiece and is confident his star novice chaser can play a key part in the marathon event after a fine effort at Ascot when beaten only a head by Ben Pauling’s Henry’s Friend.

“I went to the Reynoldstown with slightly different expectations than I did the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase (when third on Boxing Day) – in my mind and my world he was favourite, so I wasn’t over the moon to finish second at Ascot,” explained Honeyball.

Thriller at @Ascot!
💪 Henry’s Friend lands the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase for @benpauling1, digging deep under @BenJone04644251 to fend off Kilbeg Kingpic.twitter.com/PHgPxXZeyb

— Sporting Life Racing (@SportingLife) February 17, 2024

“At the same time, the dream is still alive and he’s run a really good race with reasons to think he could go to the National Hunt Chase and have a really good chance.

“Hand on heart we’re probably not good enough to run in the three-mile novice (Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase) and while we’re not a million miles away, we’re probably right in going for the National Hunt Chase.

“He’s definitely got that bit of class and he would travel through that race, while I think his jumping would be economical and good enough. So I feel he would have a decent chance in that.

“It’s one of those races where he would tick a lot of boxes. He’s a nine-year-old and he’s got that bit of experience. I see no reason why he wouldn’t stay and he’s got what you need really.”

Ms Parfois was just denied at the Cheltenham Festival (Paul Harding/PA)

On the booking of Biddick for the nine-year-old, he went on: “I think it’s a race you have to get organised early for and we’ve got Will Biddick provisionally booked to ride him. I think he will be OK (to take the ride) as he often rides for Paul Nicholls in those types of races, but he doesn’t have one in it.”

Not only does Kilbeg King’s Cheltenham Festival bid give both Honeyball and Biddick the chance to correct the record of Ms Parfois’ National Hunt Chase reverse of six years ago, her owner Martyn Chapman is a member of the partnership that co-owns the Grade Two runner-up.

Honeyball continued: “Will was second for us in the race aboard Mrs Parfois when she was beaten by Willie and Patrick Mullins. It was an agonising one as halfway up the run-in she was back in front, but just got nabbed.

“One of the owners of Kilbeg King used to own Ms Parfois so there is a nice bit of symmetry to it as well. We’re looking forward to it and we wouldn’t run him unless we thought we had a decent chance of winning and we think we have.

“We will give it a go and who knows, you need a lot of luck, but we just hope he does everything right and if he does then we should at least be thinking we have a chance turning in, we hope.”

Kilbeg King has built up a wealth of fencing experience in four starts this season and having plied his trade in graded company the last twice, there are plenty of positives for his connections to cling to ahead of his Festival bid.

“His jumping was good in the Kauto Star and his jumping for the most part was good, solid and safe at Ascot,” said Honeyball

“There was just a slight frustration that at both two out and the last he just jumped them OK but landed a bit flat-footed. If he had jumped just one of them OK then that would probably been enough, but it is about jumping and Ascot is a good test.

Anthony Honeyball is still searching his first Cheltenham Festival winner (David Davies/PA)

“It’s good he has come through that and it is good experience under his belt and we’re hoping we can just do a few little things at home now to help him when the pressure is on.

“When he won at Punchestown we thought he fitted the same type of mould as Fountains Windfall and Ms Parfois and we were very much hoping he would end up in races like this.

“He was a good third in the Kauto Star and he’s backed that up with a really good performance in the Reynoldstown.”