Thats My Rabbit and Stephen Crawford© Photo Healy Racing
Amateur jockey Stephen Crawford gained a measure of compensation for last weekend's failure, by a hair's breadth, to win the British Amateur Jockeys Championship, with a win on the Michael O'Callaghan trained Thats My Rabbit in the www.kilbegganraces.com Bumper at Kilbeggan today.
On the closing day of the British Amateur Jockeys' season last Sunday, Crawford trailed eventual winner Harry Bannister by just one winner.
Crawford, however, had the gilt-edged chance to tie the prize and, riding 1/2 favourite Izzini at Wetherby on Sunday, the pair were a distance clear and effectively 'home and hosed' until falling at the second last flight.
Today Crawford, enjoyed better fortune and steered Thats My Rabbit to a comfortable win over Isaac Bell to notch a second win of the new Irish season.
Michael O'Callaghan had been making good progress in Flat circles recently and the trainer later stated “the bit of good ground is what he wanted. He (Stephen Crawford) did the right job by kicking on early as he's a big galloping horse and I told him to make plenty use of him. I said if we didn't make use of him, we may have left him in his box.
“He is big framed and raw horse and is as light as some of my two year olds. He'll make up into a lovely chaser though and if he's not sold we'll throw him out.”
By Thomas Weekes, quotes from Gary Carson
