Nine years ago, Alan King uprooted his fledgling training operation to a purpose-built yard in what seemed the middle of nowhere, sited down an endless lane beyond some Ministry of Defence buildings on the Marlborough Downs. To say he has put Barbury Castle on the map is a crass understatement.

Yesterday, as the season of jump trainers' open days began in earnest, King hosted 450 owners and friends to lunch, though only after a parade of horses that took two and a half hours. With 190 in his care - as opposed to the 30 he originally brought to Barbury - these things take time.

King now has a blue-chip sponsor in Schroders that is likely to bring him still more wealthy owners. His star is so ascendant that he is even excelling at a part of the sport he was trying to avoid. Having stated he would have few Flat runners this summer, he has already trained 19 winners. “Amazing,” he said. “I even won with my only two-year-old last week.”

But if this gives him credentials to be thought the best dual-purpose trainer around, it is jumping that remains his lifeblood. Last season, he trained three Cheltenham Festival winners for the second year in succession, and finished third to his good friend Paul Nicholls in the championship.

It may be much closer this time around. King not only has the ambition to be champion, he is also assembling the artillery. “It takes time with a young yard. Last year, we had virtually no novice chasers. We'll be a lot stronger this season,” he promised. Araldur, a four-year-old purchased from France, is an early one to watch in this department.

Of the established stars, Voy Por Ustedes will step up in trip and head towards the King George, via Aintree in October. My Way De Solzen will drop back in distance, starting in the Haldon Gold Cup. Katchit will bid for a second Champion Hurdle, possibly launched by a spin on the Flat.