Crawford snares Kilbeggan bumper with Largy Ray

The John Thomas McNamara INH Flat Race was won at odds of 8/1 by the Stuart Crawford-trained Largy Ray

Not beaten far on his debut at Ayr last October, he had finished well down the field on two subsequent starts.

A tongue-tie was fitted for this first outing in four months and the Westerner gelding made good headway on the outer inside the final quarter-mile to hit the front at the furlong marker, keeping on well from there to defeat The Shantou King by two and a-half lengths.

Winning rider Stephen Connor remarked: “We were waiting for better ground and then we got down here and the ground had changed.

“I rang Stuart and he said to work away and take our chance as we'd gone down.

“He handled it well and it's probably not that soft, they are just cutting the top off it — it's summer soft.

“He shows plenty of ability at home. His first run was alright but his next two were disappointing and in hindsight he probably wasn't himself. Then Stuart said we'll wait for better ground.

“He proved it today and he had loads left coming to the line, he was just idling in front.

“He's a nice horse going forward, whether the boys hold on to him or not. They are selling men so I'll leave that up to them.”

Quotes from Gary Carson