LARNE trainer Stuart Crawford got the New Year off to a flyer on Monday, with a sparking double at Ayr, further enhancing his tremendous strike rate at the Scottish venue.
‘Gold Cup Bailly’ has always been held in the highest regard by the local trainer and completed a hat trick when claiming the featured McPherson Handicap Chase and stepping up in distance to three miles for the first time. A dazzling display of jumping added to his very snug success.
Crawford said: “He wouldn’t blow you away with his work at home, but he comes alive when racing. His jumping is a great asset and you can go anywhere with his jumping – it’s hard work out there – he’ll be better on good ground. He’s a very exciting horse and his future looks bright and we can dream of the future.”
The brace was completed when ‘L Anamour’ readily opened his jumps account in the maiden hurdle, scoring by an extending four lengths.
Top jockey Daryl Jacob, who partnered the pair for high profile owners and football agents Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, said: “They are two nice horses. I ran the course before racing and thought going wide was better going. He’s a nice big galloping horse (L Anamour). I thought if he reproduced his last run at Punchestown, which was a strong race, he would take a lot of beating. He was idling in the closing stages. We are learning about these horses as we go along. I’ll have a couple of quiet days, but Stuart (Crawford) is bringing a few nice horses to Newcastle on Saturday and I’m booked to go there.”
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