As usual, the imperious David Cleary
will be a hard act to follow after tipping wide-margin winner White Fusion (BSP
13.0) at Catterick yesterday. I can’t hope to match that, but there are a
couple of races at Ayr which provide opportunities from a betting perspective.
The name of Crawford has been
synonymous with baking in Scotland for 200 years, but it may be the
Co.Antrim-based Crawford family who take home a large share of the crumbs
today. The operation headed up by licence holder Stuart really is a family
affair, as he is ably assisted not only by brother Steven, who rides many of
the yard’s runners, but also by siblings Ben and Ross at their base near Larne.
The Crawford boys have made a speciality of plundering bumpers in Scotland and
the north of England, landing 14 wins from just 46 runners in that sphere in the
last 5 seasons, with a further 16 being placed. A reminder of the potency of
their bumper operation was served when Legacy Gold scored under a penalty at
Catterick yesterday. Further success awaits in the closing race at Ayr today,
as Fine Rightly (17:00) bids to
follow up an impressive C&D success on his debut last month. On that
occasion, the son of Alflora stayed on too strongly for Jim Goldie’s Caledonia
to win with a bit up his sleeve. Caledonia did little to dent the fine
impression created when finishing a creditable third in the listed bumper at
Newbury on Saturday won by Oscar Rock. Ballyben, a further 11 lengths back in
third, was another who had scored on debut, and caught the eye when placed on
his hurdles debut at Newcastle recently, adding further solidity to the form. Fine Rightly will get plenty of
assistance from the saddle, with Steven holding the Fegentri amateur riders’
world title for both Flat and jumps racing. He rode The Cool Guy to win the Grade
2 Aintree bumper in 2005, and also enjoyed big-race success in the Irish
Cambridgeshire as an apprentice for Pat Flynn back in the 90’s and is as astute
a rider in this sphere as any, adopting tactics to suit his mount, rather than
his ego. Both Lucinda Russell and David
Pipe do well in similar races, and their representatives, Island Confusion and
Hidden Discounts, merit respect, but the selection looks a cut above the
average winner of such events, and can withhold all challenges.
The Crawford have more family business
in the 21f novice chase at 15:25, as Fine Rightly’s half-sister Aibrean returns from an absence to make
her debut over the larger obstacles. This former point winner showed near-useful
form over hurdles, winning a competitive handicap here before running respectably
behind Dynaste in a valuable fixed-brush affair at Haydock in November 2011.
Not seen since, it would be easy to assume that she’ll need this run, but the
trainer was at pains to book Tony McCoy for the ride, only for the champ to be
claimed for likely warm favourite Tap Night. Jason Maguire is an able
substitute, and while Tap Night will be hard to beat, it was notable how easy
Barry Geraghty was on the horse when running below market expectations at
Musselburgh last time, and punters backing McCoy are painfully aware that “never-say-die-Tony”
has too often looked like “never-say-go-Tony” on his employer’s Festival-bound
runners in recent weeks, making Lucinda Russell’s charge an unappealing bet
with his handicap mark still in the balance. The Tracey Shuffle is the only
other runner to consider, and is worthy of the utmost respect, but an absence
since overjumping on his chase bow at Perth (ostensibly well backed, but that
support was in the face of an alarming drift on pre-race favourite Carlito
Brigante) is a niggling concern. All in all, Aibrean looks worth chancing at the odds.
Recommended Bets:
Back Fine Rightly in the 17:00 Ayr
@ [2.78] (NAP)
Back Aibrean in the 15:25 Ayr @ [6.0] (NB)
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