Crystal Glory

It was correct that Hillcrest captured all the attention after winning the Grade 2 Prestige Hurdle at Haydock last Saturday, but Crystal Glory put up a really good performance to chase him home. Settled in mid-division and along the inside early on by Sean Quinlan, Crystal Glory moved into third place behind the two breakaway front-runners Hillcrest and Green Book as they started down the back straight final time. He moved into second place as Green Book weakened on the run around the home turn, and it appeared as if he was travelling at least as well as Hillcrest as they landed over the third last flight, at which neither of them was overly fluent. It was at the second last though that Hillcrest’s engine kicked in, and he stayed on powerfully to win well, but Crystal Glory kept on admirably to get to within eight lengths of him.

It may be that Crystal Glory was slightly flattered by this, that Green Book faded only because he attempted to match strides with Hillcrest early on, but Crystal Glory had to do a lot of running to bridge the gap and, while Hillcrest proved to be more powerful in the end, he still kept on well. Nicky Richards’ horse was stepping up markedly in class, from Class 4 contests into a Grade 2, but he acquitted himself well in the heavy ground and over the longest distance over which he had ever raced under Rules. A dual point-to-point winner, he will be of interest in another staying hurdle now before the end of the season, and a handicap mark of 131 looks more than fair, should connections choose to go down that route, but he could be an exciting staying novice chaser for next season.
Haydock, 19^th February 2022