Crawford's clever quick back up lands Speedy Smartie a win: "he's holding the yard up."

He may have been ruing Speedy Smartie’s narrow defeat at Happy Valley on Sunday, but Brett Crawford soon had a smile on his face when that same galloper handled a quick back up to provide the trainer with his first win at the city track last night.

Crawford has enjoyed a good start to his first season in Hong Kong, largely thanks to Speedy Smartie, who has provided the South African with two of his four wins.

“Full credit to the horse,” Crawford said. “On Sunday, when he got back to the yard, he was taking everything in his stride and he was eating well on Monday and Tuesday. 

“He’s holding the yard up at the moment, so now we need the rest of the crew to help him along.”

Speedy Smartie, who was only denied by a neck at Happy Valley’s annual day meeting on Sunday, overcame a three-day turnaround and the challenge of carrying top weight to continue his red-hot season. From his four starts for Crawford, the galloper has two wins and a pair of runner-up finishes to his name.

“He really came out of the race in good order and I thought it was a really gutsy win from a deep draw,” Crawford said. “He already had a [two-point] penalty on Sunday, so it was a bit of a bonus tonight as it’s never easy to back up so quickly.”

With Speedy Smartie’s regular rider already committed to ride Always My Folks in the Class 5 contest over 1,000 meters, Jerry Chau Chun-lok capitalized on the opportunity to hop aboard the six-year-old gelding.

After settling in midfield from gate nine, 25-year-old Chau, having his first ride for Crawford, waited patiently and surged home in the straight to prevail by a neck.

“Jerry gave him a really good ride,” Crawford said. “He sat patiently and waited for the right time, so I’m very pleased.

“We weren’t planning on running the horse here and everyone takes their rides weeks in advance, so Karis was booked up. Thank goodness Jerry was available and he did a great job.”

Crawford already has his eyes on another race for Speedy Smartie after a well-earned break.

“We’re going to send him to Conghua now and just give him a bit of time to recuperate,” he added. “Then we’ve got a race at the beginning of December that we can bring him out for. In the meantime, hopefully we can keep the ball rolling.”