KING 'ADORES' HIS QUEEN
 
The Glancing Queen took the final race of the day, the Karndean Mares' Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race in a thrilling finish with Mega Yeats and Royal Illusion.
 
The Jeremy four-year-old, trained by Alan King and ridden by Wayne Hutchinson, won by a length and a quarter at odds of 16/1.
 
King said: "She's lovely. I adore her - and I'm not saying that because she's won, I've said it all the way through. I wasn't going to go the bumper route - she was entered over hurdles during the week, and I had two pretty smart fillies [The Glancing Queen and Alsa Mix] entered in the same race at Exeter on Tuesday and I thought, 'I can't run them both'.
 
"Alsa Mix won [at Exeter], so I rang Charles Dingwall, one of The Glancing Queen's owners, and said, 'Can I be really silly and put her in this Listed bumper at Cheltenham?' and that's what we've done.
 
"She was always travelling very comfortably for Wayne. We just told him to ride her to run well and, if we could get black type, that would be a huge plus.
"She has only had one run in her life and none of my string has worked on grass this season. We are just coming from the all-weather and she is very special.
 
"She didn't really surprise me today, but she jumps so bloody well - she's won a point to point - and there is a shortage of mares' bumpers, so I thought we could come here and maybe sneak a bit of black type. What we do now I don't know - we'll enjoy today. She could easily go to Aintree and Sandown in the spring for these races. It's a really nice problem to have!"
 
FEEL THE BEAT OF THE GLANCING QUEEN
 
The Alan King-trained The Glancing Queen showed a smart turn of foot to land the concluding Kamdean Mares' Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race.
 
Ridden by Wayne Hutchinson, the four-year-old daughter of Jeremy ran on strongly in the closing stages to score by a length and a quarter in the extended two-mile contest.
 
Hutchinson said: "It was a very impressive performance from The Glancing Queen.
 
"We liked her at home but, at the same time, we knew that we were flying high today.
 
She could have finished fourth or fifth and you would have been very pleased. I was very taken with the way she did it and we might have to stick to the bumper route for the time being.
 
"The plan was originally to go over hurdles but then this race came up and we thought that we might have a go if she is ready. We had better get our thinking caps back on.
 
"The boss wanted me to finish well rather than being competitive at the bottom of the hill and dropping out.
 
"She has travelled extremely well through the race and we just let it develop - I have let her find her feet and she has hit the rising ground and come home really well."
 
4.00pm Karndean Mares' Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (Listed Race) 2m 87y
1 The Glancing Queen (Dingwall, Farrell, Hornsey, Murray) Alan King 4-11-00 Wayne Hutchinson 16/1
2 Mega Yeats (The Mount Fawcus Partnership) Ruth Jefferson 4-11-00 Jamie Hamilton 9/1
3 Royal Illusion (Ballylinch Stud) Willie Mullins IRE 6-11-00 Danny Mullins EvensF
 
14 ran
Non-Runner: CROSSGALESFAMEGAME (Self Certificate, Not Eaten Up)
Distances: 1¼, nose
Tote Win: £15.00 Places: £3.30, £2.90, £1.40 Exacta: £136.00