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| Staff Writer |
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The Duke of Edinburgh Handicap was won by Crystal Black, ridden by multiple Irish champion jockey Colin Keane for his father Gerard.
Crystal Black made a sustained challenge wide of the rivals and surged past the favourite Ethical Diamond in the final furlong.
The late-finishing efforts of Epic Poet and Ziggy landed them in second and third places, with distances of two and a quarter length and a neck, respectively.
Ethical Diamond finished fourth, a head behind. The 6YO winner is owned by the Wear A Pink Ribbon Syndicate, a group of friends who raise money for the Irish Cancer Society, and was purchased at Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale for 35,000gns in October 2022.
Colin Keane said: “Crystal Black has improved from run to run. We thought he’d get a mile and a half the way he was finishing over a mile and a quarter; he seems to be a horse that the longer he’s on the bridle, the better he travels, and he can quicken.
“He is just very progressive. Coming over here, we said if it was Good to Firm we wouldn’t run, but I’ve been riding him out all week in the mornings and I couldn’t believe how well he moved on it.
“At home, he can just win a neck or head and has kept on the right side of the handicapper, thankfully. You’d imagine he’d have to move up to Group level now.”
Gerard Keane said: “He finished the way we thought and hoped he would, that’s the way he finishes his races.
“That was the first time without an ease in the ground and his first time on fast ground. We were more afraid of the ground than we were of the distance, because it was his first time over the trip as well. Everything worked out unbelievably. Colin gave him a great ride. Everything just worked out great. We never even thought we would have a runner – that’s our first runner here.
“He’s a good horse. He’s a straightforward horse at home. Overall, he has a very good temperament and is a very good horse. He’s very lazy in his work; if you make him work, he works well. You can work him with anything – you work him with an ordinary horse, he works beside him.
“If you work him with a good horse, he’ll work beside him. That’s the way he is. This was the plan. He will have a couple of weeks holiday and we shall see. I imagine Group races and Listed races, that type of thing – he’s probably finished in handicaps."
Epic Poet’s jockey Danny Tudhope said: “That was a cracking run. I followed the winner the whole way round and he just got a few lengths on me, but we’re delighted with that. He’s a work in progress – he was a good 2YO and 3YO and he just lost his form there last year, but hopefully we can get him back.”
1st- Crystal Black (Wear A Pink Ribbon Syndicate) Gerard Keane / Colin Keane
2nd- Epic Poet (Akela Thoroughbred Ltd) David O’Meara / Daniel Tudhope
3rd- Ziggy (Sarabex & Aragon Racing) Harry Eustace / Tom Marquand