ALAN King took the training honours at Monday's first Stratford meeting of the year when saddling a double with well-backed scorers Your Amount and Daryal.

Robert Thornton excelled with his tactical riding of both horses and showed how adept he is round the tight Stratford turns.

Always in the right place at the right time on Your Amount, he sent the 9-4 favourite to the front two out in the first division of the Bordeauxundisco-vered.co.uk Maiden hurdle and the combination pulled three and a half lengths clear of Noble Future.

There was plenty of market support behind Daryal (100-30) who delivered the goods in an incident-packed Jenkinsons Caterers Novices' Chase.

Outsider Four of the five runners were in with a squeak approaching the final fence, only for Josear and Manhattan Boy to depart independently. That left Daryal and Thornton to breeze home four and a half lengths in front of outsider Sternenzelt, trained by Shaun Lycett.

The Bourton-on-the-Water handler went one better in the penultimate race - the Jenkinsons Caterers handicap Chase when Wenger (13-2) proved a game winner on his first outing from the yard.

Ritchie Killoran, who recently joined the Lycett yard, brought him home from Storm Of Applause to the delight of the assembled members of the Worcester Racing Club.

Lycett praised Killoran and said: "He is now my conditional and did a good job there. All this horse's form has been on better ground and I thought let's take him to Stratford where we'll get it."

King and Thornton held high hopes of taking the second leg of the maiden hurdle with Poliglotti but the combination had no answer to the impressive Kingscape (2-1 favourite), who trounced his rivals for trainer James Fanshawe and rider Mick Fitzgerald.

Lily Tara (5-1) claimed the Margaret Katz Conditional Jockeys' Mares' Handicap Hurdle while Eight Palms (3-1) was a two-and-a-half-length winner of the Sally Voikhanskaya Standard Open NH Flat Race.

Philip Hobbs is in seemingly unstoppable form and his Warsaw Pact (8-1) fairly bolted up in the Scotts Decorators Merchants Novices' Handicap Hurdle after making all under Richard Johnson a faller on Manhattan Boy prior to Daryal's success.

There's another meeting at Luddington Road on Monday when again the Centre Course picnic area will not be open.