Alan King has admitted that he views Mille Chief as one of the greatest juveniles he has ever trained ahead of the youngster’s trip to Kempton on Saturday.

The French recruit will tackle the racingpost.com Adonis Juvenile Novices' Hurdle ahead of a tilt at the Cheltenham Festival and he currently heads the antepost markets for next month’s Triumph Hurdle.

"He has not had a straight-forward season and it started when he was brought down first time out at Market Rasen," said King.

"Fortunately he was OK but was badly affected by the muscle enzyme problem that we had and it took time to get him back.

"He was only workmanlike when winning at Kempton over Christmas when he was 90% fit.

"I then took him to Huntingdon for a race that Penzance won as a juvenile and he jumped beautifully.

"He'll now go to Kempton on Saturday for the Adonis and then he'll be off to Cheltenham. If the weather claims Kempton, then he will go straight to Cheltenham.

"He has not set the standard on the racecourse that Walkon and Katchit did but on his homework he is as good, if not better, than they were. He is a very high-class horse."

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