It was a day to forget for Jim Crowley on the opening day of the St Leger festival as not only was he hospitalized following a fall in the first race at Doncaster, he as well as missed three winners that followed.
Thankfully Jim Crowley escaped sustaining any serious injury in the nasty incident in the closing laps of the Take The Reins Nursery Handicap when grey colt Jadhlaan came down on crossing the line and sustained a fatal injury.
Clerk of the racecourse Roderick Duncan offered updates on Crowley, who was taken to the Northern General Hospital in the City of Sheffield.
Duncan said via best Australian casino sites: “He was conscious and stood up walking, but he was very sore.”
Later in the day Richard Hills, assistant manager in charge of racing for owners of Shadwell Estate, had more good news.
Hills said, “I just spoke to Jim. He’s missing all the winners. But he’s had an MRI scan, and that’s clear. He won’t ride tomorrow, but he’s OK,”
He was initially out of racing action for the second race, which saw the extremely promising Israr emerge victorious in a battle of well-regarded new entries in the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes.
Nevertheless, the youngster was sent off at 8-1 behind highly rated favourite and stablemate Fantastic, a full-brother to Cracksman himself.
Despite appearing green Frantastic made a decent debut, finishing third, but for Israr it was the perfect debut, defeating the outsider Savvy Victory by over half a length.
Jim Crowley was replaced by Robert Havlin who disclosed: “It’s nice to ride a winner, but never nice in those circumstances.
“The doctor said he (Crowley) got up OK but was feeling a bit of pain high in his back so they took him to get checked over.”
On the victor, Havlin said via casino pokies online: “He’s very laid-back. He’s like family – Taghrooda was very laid-back.
“We were going slow (early), and he wasn’t really taking the bit. So I sat closer then.
“He was just racing a little bit babyish – but when I gave him a squeeze, he was all there for me and finished out well.
“He picked up well. He’s from a mile-and-a-half family, but he’s a bit quicker.
“You can see he’s smaller and stockier and stronger than the others. He’s nice, and we hope he’s got a bright future.
“I love his mindset.”
Thady Gosdenis the trainer of Israr with his father and disclosed of their runners: “I was very happy with both of them.
“Obviously it was the first time out for both, so there’s that lack of experience.
“I was very happy with the third there (too). He ran on nicely, got the hang of things late on.
“I’m very happy with the winner. They’re both exceptionally well-bred.”
Meanwhile, Saturday is a huge day for Hollie Doyle who looks forward to her debut ride in St Leger at Doncaster, when she team-up Aidan O’Brien’s progressive colt Interpretation.
In his words, “I’m beyond excited to have my first ride in the world’s oldest Classic, the Cazoo St Leger (3.35) at Doncaster on Saturday, and to get the call up for one of Aidan O’Brien’s four runners makes it even more of a thrill.”