ALAN King generally has a strong hand in the novice hurdles at Cheltenham and his Redicean was cut to a general 5/1 for the JLT Triumph Hurdle after completing a hat-trick of Kempton wins on Saturday.

Effective at up to a mile and three-quarters on the flat, and snapped up as a bargain by King after winning at Redcar last autumn, Redicean (10/11 favourite) fairly sprinted away with the Grade 2 Betdaq ChangingForTheBetter Adonis Juvenile Hurdle, having led two from home.

The winning margin over Paul Nicholls’ filly Malaya was seven lengths, who already looks fairly well exposed. The others were beaten 10 lengths and more.

Winning jockey Wayne Hutchinson is certain Redicean is a star in the making and does not believe the very different terrain at Cheltenham will make a significant difference. King was entirely in agreement.

“That was lovely,” the trainer said. “He was very, very slick at the jumps today, very quick through the air and I couldn’t be more pleased. I’m not worried about the hill at Cheltenham and he’s handled winter ground perfectly well. In fact that was the best ground he’s raced on, so I’m relaxed about that, too. He hadn’t beaten all that much before today and he’s come through it very well.”