"In terms of stamina, he finished fourth over hurdles at Ascot to Buzz in soft ground so he should stay in a true run race here."
There's a marathon card at Kempton on Wednesday evening, and Alan is backing Nelson River to storm home in the final staying event...
Explore place options with King filly
19:20 Kempton - Back Thanielle @ BSP in Place market
Once upon a time, Alan King's Thanielle made her debut as a 120,000gns newcomer in a rather tasty-looking Newmarket maiden. Behind a Godolphin one-two no less.
That was with Richard Hannon, but she had ability in her first couple of runs and the stiff nature of the Salisbury contours were more in keeping with her stamina-laden pedigree.
Now with King, she showed improvement when upped to 1m4f at Kempton last time. It's no surprise with her pedigree by Nathaniel that she enjoyed the extra distance. She's also related to plenty of all-weather winners.
The hood has helped her last two starts as she has been a free racer, but I think she's overpriced
River to run through the deep Kempton surface
20:20 Kempton - Back Nelson River @ 3.02/1
The final race on the Kempton card has the maximum 14 runners, but it's easy to put a line through a few.
I initially looked at Kozier with the track riding on the slow side, as he stays forever and is certainly an each-way price, but he put in a poor run at Southwell last time to be less confident even in this grade. Kozier is also bred by the wonderfully named Dr Spangler.
And class could tell here as Nelson River is dropping down from a 0-80 against a few plodders.
He picked up to win an apprentice handicap at Wolverhampton last time. Whilst the race turned into a bit of a sprint, he overcame that by coming from off the pace and escapes a penalty too.
In terms of stamina, he finished fourth over hurdles at Ascot to Buzz in soft ground so he should stay in a true run race here.