Crouch all class in fresh-up victory

A booming late run out wide on the track has carried promising stayer Crouch to an eye-caching victory in the first run of a new campaign as he took out the feature race at Otaki on Saturday, the Cavallo Farms and Chris Rutten Bloodstock Handicap (1400m).

The Mike Breslin-prepared six-year-old rounded out his last campaign with a fourth in the New Zealand St Leger (2500m) at Trentham in March, a track where he performed with distinction by finishing runner up to Wolfgang in the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) two months earlier.

Despite finishing second in a 1000m Awapuni trial last month, not many expected him to be able to foot it with some capable winter sprinters over 1400m fresh-up although no-one told the Tarzino gelding that.

Allowed to settle last by apprentice Toni Davies, Crouch lobbed along without a care in the world before being asked to loop his seven rivals wide out from the 600m.

Davies purposely kept him wide around the home turn where he still spotted Make Time, Chajaba and Enrico several lengths as that trio looked likely to fight out the finish,

They were still in front with 100m to run however Davies had her mount charging home and a couple of huge bounds saw him hit the front in the shadows of the post, winning by neck from Make Time with a long neck back to Chajaba in third.

Breslin had an inkling his charge was ready to run a good race as he has been a different horse during his build up.

“I knew he had come back better than ever, so I was expecting a good run even if he has never won over less than a mile in the past,” Breslin said.

“He has always had ability but always had to be pushed along, but this time in his maturity has improved and he is doing things far easier than he has before.

“You can see it in his trackwork and general demeanour that the penny has dropped with him.

“Even though his wins have mainly come on wet tracks, he is also showing he really wants a better surface as he gets up over more distance.”

Breslin has a number of options open to him as he plots a campaign path for his charge with the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton in November one of those options although not a guaranteed target.

“We would love to take him to Riccarton but he is a little behind where we would like him to be as there haven’t been any races lately to get him started,” he said.

“If everything went one hundred percent right then the New Zealand Cup is on the cards but that is still not confirmed.

“If he does miss that race then the Wellington Cup (Gr.3, 3200m) is likely as I told Roy (co-owner) after he ran second this year we would be back to win it in 2026.”

A $20,000 purchase by Breslin out of the Book 2 Westbury Stud draft at Karaka in 2021, Crouch is named after former Liverpool and English international footballer Peter Crouch.

Raced by Breslin and Roy Potter, Crouch has now won six of his 25 starts and more than $243,000 in prizemoney.