Duncan Howells described his two-year-old Mogok colt King Of Torts as a “very good horse”, who deserved his place in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes field on Super Saturday at Greyville this weekend. 

“He is very well and has improved since his last run,” he said.

In his last start he pulverised a Maiden Juvenile Plate field over 1600m at Scottsville by 6,75 lengths.

The second horse, Jamal, came out after that race and ran a fair third in a competitive Maiden Juvenile Plate over a probably too sharp 1200m.

In his penultimate start King Of Torts was beaten 1,75 lengths over the Scottsville 1600m by another Premier’s candidate Act Fast.

However, Howells was confident he could reverse that form.

“He had hardly done anything before that race,” he said.

He continued, “It will be a hard task for him, but it will be a challenge. It’s difficult to tell who is good and who isn’t good at this stage but I think he is right up there with them. The one negative is that he is still mentally quite immature. He is the type of horse that will be better as a three-year-old and four-year-old. But he deserves his place in the race and we will see what he does.”

Howells has a fine recent record at this meeting having won the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes with Gypsy’s Warning in 2008 and last year he finished third in the Ladbrokes Gold Cup with Knight To Remember and second in the Thekwini with Felix The Cat.