Merry Crambo again for Fergal O’Brien after Long Walk repeat at Ascot
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Crambo, dismissed in the betting at 9-1 despite his narrow win in the Long Walk Hurdle 12 months ago, returned to Ascot for the first time since and rediscovered his form in impressive fashion, edging home by a head from Hiddenvalley Lake and briefly reducing Fergal O’Brien, his trainer, to tears as he celebrated the third Grade One win of his career.
Strong Leader, a Grade Two winner at Newbury last month, was sent off favourite at 11-8 but was never in serious contention and eventually faded to finish last of the 10 runners as Crambo moved towards the lead between the final two flights. Lingfield: 11.30 Forge Valley Lad 12.00 Zip It Up 12.30 Five Winds 1.00 Daaris 1.30 Time Patrol 2.00 Ravensbourne 2.30 Mc Loven (nap) 3.00 State Flag 3.30 Book Of Life.
Fakenham: 12.13 Faded Fantasy 12.43 Simply Gorgeous 1.13 Kosasiempre 1.43 Go West 2.13 Jony Max 2.43 Zhang Fei 3.13 Lunar Contact (nb). Jonathan Burke, Crambo’s jockey, took over from the long-time leader, Beauport, at the start of the run-in and, while Darragh O’Keeffe launched a strong challenge on Hiddenvalley Lake in an attempt to give Ireland a first winner in the race’s 59-year history, Crambo dug deep to hold him at bay.
“It’s been a tough time and the owners know that the horses haven’t been firing,” O’Brien said. “But I knew that if we were going to see the old Crambo after two bad runs then the best place was to come back here.”. Crambo finished well beaten in both the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree following his win here in 2023, but was cut from 66-1 to around 16-1 for this season’s Stayers’ Hurdle after his return to form.
