Genius Baby seals a double for Brett Crawford (Picture: HKJC)
Brett Crawford only had two runners at the Happy Valley meeting in Hong Kong tonight (Wednesday) and both of them won.
The winners were ridden by South African Jockey Academy graduates Lyle Hewitson and Karis Teetan respectively.
The New Zealand-bred Ninja Derby was having his fourth run for the Crawford stable in the third race.
Crawford acquired him as a lowly 28 rated six-year-old and he was running off a 37 rating today following a win and two thirds.
Hewitson had to negotiate a draw of nine in the Class 5 event over 1800m.
He did so by taking the unimposing bay up there and then moving into the lead rounding the first turn.
He then dictated the pace and Ninja Derby displayed a good kick turning for home.
Under a hard ride he held on by a neck from the favourite Storm Runner.
Ninja Derby was the second favourite and paid a dividend of HK$4.70 for a win.
In the fifth race, a Class 4 over 1200m, Genius Baby, a four-year-old Australian-bred by Too Darn Hot, was having his second run for the Crawford stable.
He had not run better than sixth in his first eight career starts and immediately improved on that in the Crawford stable by running fifth first time out.
Today he was in a Class 4 event over 1200m and was jumping from draw five under Karis Teetan.
He was paying Hk$9.00 on the Tote.
Genius Baby was outpaced early and had to be driven just to hold his midfield position.
However, the bay picked up the bit nicely entering the straight and he bravely managed to squeeze through a tight gap close to home before winning going away by a 0,75 lengths.
It was fine day at the office for Crawford.
Of the 22 trainers on the table, Brett has had the least number of runs at 51.
However, his eight wins now give him the highest strike rate on the island this season at 15.6%.
Click here to read a report on the Wednesday Happy Valley meeting
