'I'm chuffed to bits for her' - owner makes winning start as Cold Sobar hacks up on debut

Debbie Crawford made a fantastic start to life as a sole owner when Cold Sobar cruised to victory in the 2m1f maiden hurdle.

A part-owner of Cheltenham Festival runner Maid O'Malley, Crawford watched on as her most recent purchase surged clear under Sam Coltherd, merely needing to be nudged out to pull 13 lengths clear on his debut under rules.

"She bought him about a month ago and it's the first horse she has owned herself, so I'm chuffed to bits for her," said trainer Stuart Coltherd of his 13-2 winner.

"He won a point-to-point on his last run and the guy we bought him off said he would relish soft/heavy ground. We always hope, but I can't say he'd shown that much in his work, nothing outstanding – it was definitely a little bit of a surprise.

"It was a great performance and as long as the ground stays soft, I'd think we'd just run him under a penalty next time."

Off the mark

It may have taken 42 rides, but that didn't stop Josh Thompson making his way to the winner's enclosure with a huge smile on his face after registering his first victory under rules.

The son of trainer David Thompson made all on the Micky Hammond-trained Howzat Hiris, who was getting off the mark at the 15th attempt, in the 2m7½f conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle.

Gutsy Grace

The return to hurdles after four chase starts appeared to revitalise the Jedd O'Keeffe-trained Miah Grace, who took up the running after the last and toughed it out in testing conditions to win the 2m4½f handicap hurdle by two and a quarter lengths under Conor O'Farrell.

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