'She made light work of her rivals' - northern trainers enjoy plenty of local success at Downpatrick

125-1 chance Green Hope provided Ross Crawford with his first winner since taking out his licence last month

Ross Crawford added a fourth career win at Downpatrick in a productive day for Northern trainersCredit: Patrick McCann

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Pat Collins kicked off a good winning run for northern trainers when he sent out Small Bucks to win the 2m2f handicap hurdle.

Shooting clear under Patrick O’Brien in the closing stages, the five-year-old went on to defeat Sea Of Doubt by seven and a half lengths and land the spoils at 11-1.

O’Brien said: "She put in a good performance there and made light work of her rivals. She'll jump a fence in time as well."

The local success didn't stop there, however, as Ross Crawford won the following 2m6f maiden hurdle with Marcelrock.

A ready winner under Sam Ewing, the 16-1 chance provided Crawford with the fourth win of his training career, and his second at the track, since he began training under rules in December.

"I’m delighted," Crawford said. "Things couldn’t be going better. Sam has actually ridden three of my winners. It’s going well so far, and I’m enjoying it. We don’t have too many in for the summer, but if anybody sends me a horse, I’ll do my best to train it!"

More local success

Colin McBratney put the cherry on top for punters following the local theme when 11-2 shot Gangster Granny saw off a pair of better-fancied Gordon Elliott rivals to land the 2m6f novice hurdle.

Darragh O’Keeffe showed exactly why he leads the way in the jockeys’ championship when he kept the Jack Kennedy-ridden Playtime hemmed in a pocket turning for home. He then went in pursuit of Playtime’s stablemate, Lemmy Caution, and powered past him with ease.

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