At last some ‘Action’
After two-consecutive second-place finishes over the five-straight course, American-bred Action Run came up trumps around the turn at a longer distance on Saturday (June 27), leaving trainer Gary Crawford delighted with his progress.
The fleet-footed colt, who found Duke too hot last week, produced a fighting performance to win by a head, this time in a Restricted Allowance run over 6 ½ furlongs (1,300 metres).
Action Run was a bit slow out of the gates from post position 11, but was aggressively urged by jockey Robert Halledeen to catch up with the front-runners in the early exchanges.
Halledeen separated himself from the pack leaving the half mile and briskly pressed the “Go” button on Action Run as they opened a three-length lead over rivals heading into the final bend.
It was a game of catch me if you can as a now bustling Halledeen went to work, wailing away with the righthand stick before quickly switching to the left with a furlong to run.
However, with Fresh Cash (Youville Pinnock) bearing down fast in the closing stages it took all of Halledeen’s strength and experience to get the four-year-old bay colt across the line in front. Extruder (Oneil Mullings) finished third. The final time was 1:20.2 behind splits of 23.1, 46.4, and 1:12.1.
Crawford credited the experience of Halledeen for the victory.
“I am happy and excited that he [Action Run] won this time around. The run from last week did him good because he didn’t have to chase anyone today; the jockey just had to relax him and come home.
“I honestly didn’t do anything with him since his last run; I just freshened him up and brought him back, and he ran as expected. He has places to go,” Crawford said.
“The jockey did a good job as well and he showed his experience when compared to the apprentice [Calvin Bailey],” he added.
With three winners in two race days to his credit, Crawford is optimistic that more will be on the cards in the future.
“I am elated right now because you have to take it when it comes. It’s not easy to win races so when it comes you have to take it, especially after the break. So, it is terrific to have the stable in some form and I am hoping more will come,” he ended.