JUMEIRAH KING delivered our tenth victory of the season with a comfortable success in a maiden hurdle at Worcester on Wednesday in the colours of the Kings Eight syndicate.
Rated 77 on the flat he is a half brother to Gary Moore’s smart hurdler Teddy Blue.
We bought him at the Newmarket sales in October hoping he would develop into a decent juvenile who might be good enough for the Fred Winter at Cheltenham.
But he didn’t finish his first race for us at Warwick and it took us a long time to build up his confidence after that.
His hurdling has gradually improved with experience, and he finished a promising fourth last time at Hereford a month ago before taking a nice step forward on Wednesday with the help of a good ride by Sam Twiston-Davies.
Sam always had Jumeirah King in the ideal spot behind the long time leader Authoceltic before they eased to the front after the final flight and stretched clear to win with something to spare by three lengths.
We have the option of turning him out again in a novice hurdle under a penalty or running him in a handicap.
There is also the chance to see if he could win a nice maiden on the flat.
