Minzaal bolts up in Sprint Cup at Haydock as bookies slash odds for British Champions Sprint
MIN the Merciless ran out a dominant winner of the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock.
The six-furlong division has been crying out for a star performer this season.
And Owen Burrows’ Minzaal showed that he was the daddy with a brilliant display under Jim Crowley.
Victory gave former champion jockey Crowley, 44, his sixth Group 1 of a golden summer, thanks mainly to the exploits of winning machine Baaeed.
And this one was as easy as you like, with the improving four-year-old Minzaal first and the rest nowhere.
The colt was a little unlucky on his previous outing, when a never-nearer second behind subsequent Nunthorpe heroine Highfield Princess in France.
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There was no chance Crowley was going to let this race slip through his grasp, and he had the leaders dead in his sights approaching the final furlong.
When he asked Minzaal to quicken, the result was instant and he galloped clear of last year’s winner Emaraaty Ana to win by nearly four lengths.
It gave Burrows, who admitted earlier this week that the 2022 campaign was a crucial one for him after a quiet couple of years, his second top-level success of the season.
He had a smile as wide as the nearby River Mersey as he greeted his star sprinter afterwards, and all roads now lead to British Champions Day.
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Burrows said: “I’ve touched on it this week that this was a big year for us.
“It’s hard to attract new owners and you can soon be forgotten in this game, but fortunately we have had some good results this year.
“I’m thrilled for the horse. He was knocking on the door as a two-year-old and he has had a few injuries.
“He ran a big race in France last time, and we felt he was coming into this race in better form than he was there.
“He is a pleasure to deal with and he has a temperament to die for. He eats, sleeps and works and he loves life.
“He was third on easy enough ground on Champions Day last year, so it is the obvious race to go for next.”
Crowley added: “It all went very smoothly. We have always held him in high regard and he had an interrupted season last year.“He was always cantering in behind them and as soon as he got a gap he was away and gone.”
Minzaal is now the 5-2 favourite (from 10s) with Coral for the British Champions Sprint on October 15.
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