Crawford at the double with smart newcomer

Handler Stuart Crawford sealed a Down Royal double as King’s Theatre mare Twentytwo’s Taken stretched away to win the bumper by 10 lengths on her first racecourse outing.

The 6/1 shot was ridden to victory by Crawford’s brother Stephen.

The race itself boiled down to two horses with a quarter of a mile to go. Brian Hamilton’s Some Plan (also on debut) served it up to Twentytwo’s Taken but couldn’t go with the winner in the final furlong.

“The ground was always the biggest issue for her as it was for Mister Nibbles [who was second in the two mile maiden hurdle earlier]. She couldn’t have done it any better though and the danger horses were second and third,” Stuart Crawford reported.

“I haven’t thought any further ahead that today. She hasn’t been away to gallop anywhere, she’s just galloped at home." Wes Hardin the 5/4 favourite for Noel Meade and Nina Carberry took third, beaten 18.5 lengths by the five-year-old winner.

This race went off almost four minutes early which resulted in a stewards enquiry being called. There was no alteration to the result although the race was referred to the Turf Club for investigation as outlined in the stewards report below.

The Stewards enquired into the early start of this race before the advertised starting time of 3.30 p.m.

Evidence was heard from Mr B. Sheridan, Turf Club Clerk of the Course and Mr D. Cullen, Turf Club Starter.

Mr B. Sheridan stated that he despatched the runners to the start allowing the normal time limits to reach the start and have equipment checked. He added that he did not specifically inform the Starter of the remaining time before the start time.

Mr D. Cullen stated that he was satisfied that his starting times were recorded correctly all day and his watch confirmed that this race had also started on time. He was not aware of any problems with his starting time and could not account for his watch running at three minutes faster by the time this race had to be started.

Having considered all the evidence, the Stewards allowed the result to stand in accordance with the provisions of Rule 10 but referred the matter to the CEO for a full investigation.