Double delight for Smart following Alicante Dawn’s triumph at Ripon
BRYAN SMART achieved a notable double when Alicante Dawn won the Longines Irish Champions Weekend EBF Ripon Champion Two Yrs Old Trophy.
Having already landed the Great StWilf rid with Name it what you like earlier in the month, Hambleton-based Smart has now claimed the two feature races at the North Yorkshire track.
Despite being drawn widest of all, Connor Beasley bounced his mount out and grabbed the rail, showing plenty of early speed.
He never saw another rival, with favourite Kodiline finding disappointingly little, and Smart’s charge beat Private Matter by two and a quarter lengths.
“I’ve just been informed that I’m the first trainer to win this and the Wilfrid in 27 years,” said Smart.
“With Alpha Delphini winning the Bullet on Saturday, we’ve had a great month. This lad hasn’t been a bad buy for £5,000 has he? If he never wins again he doesn’t owe us anything. We’ll go for the Mill Reef now, he’s earned a crack at that. We were testing the water (yesterday) and he’s passed with flying colours.
“I couldn’t believe how easy he found it all. Connor said he gave him two cracks to make him concentrate as he was dossing a bit.”
Beasley added: “We’ve always thought a bit of him at home, even very early in the year, but he’s just gone from strength to strength.
“I got a soft enough lead and took advantage of it. I got the feeling he was just doing what he had to do, there was plenty left.”
Meanwhile, Jim Crowley says “it would mean everything” if he could land the Flat title.
An unconsidered 40-1 shot in the Spring, the former jumps jockey has been the surprise package in this year’s title race and is now odds-on to dethrone current champion Silvestre de Sousa.
“It’s good fun at the moment,” said Crowley, who was attached to Sue and Harvey Smith’s High Eldwick yard before switching to the Flat. “I’m enjoying it and getting on some nice horses and they’re winning. I hope it keeps going. I probably thought about it (the championship) seriously just after Goodwood.
“I had a couple of winners at Windsor one night. It had been a good week and my agent said, ‘Do you want to give it a go?’, and I said, ‘Yes, let’s give it a kick’.
“I didn’t think I’d be in this position in the first couple of years I switched to the Flat, but, as time has gone and I’d ridden a lot more winners, things became a little more realistic.
“I made a slow start, but things have really picked up well. I honestly don’t know if I’m going to do it. All I can do is just carry on what I’m doing. If it goes our way, brilliant. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”