Gold Well has runaway Aintree Listed bumper winner

An excellent year for Coolmore newcomer Gold Well continued at Aintree on Friday when the unbeaten Legacy Gold (5m Gold Well-Durgams Delight, by Durgam) carried the colours of breeder Chris Johnson to her third success. The five-year-old was trained by Stuart Crawford, and partnered by his brother Steven, to sprint up Aintree’s straight to register a four-length victory. "She has a great turn of foot but she’s also very relaxed which really helps her. I watched her down the back straight and I thought she was getting outpaced a bit but that’s just her, she’s very laidback," said the winning trainer. "In a race like this, with all the hustle and bustle, that’s no bad thing. Another big positive is that she’s already had a few nights away from home and she’s coped with all the travel really well. It’s no big deal for her. "It’s lovely for her owners, who also bred her, and we’ll try to map out a little hurdles campaign for her next year." Steven Crawford added: "Legacy Gold is good. It wasn’t the plan to sit last but plans change and they went pretty quick so I was happy to sit. She switches off and you need to sit because even if you give her a small tap to sit, she sees that as time to go. I had to be patient and going down the back one or two fell away so I picked them off. "She’s not that big but to all those lads out there, she has just proved size is irrelevant! People may say she had only won at Sedgefield and Catterick but the racing at those courses has got better over the last couple of years. The race she won first time out at Sedgefield, the horse that was second was Runswick Royal, who finished second in the G1 novice hurdle at Aintree on Thursday." Crawford dedicated his victory to Jonjo Bright, the young point-to-point rider who was paralysed in a fall earlier this year. "Jonjo Bright had a similar fall to J T McNamara but has a lot lower profile. He is good friend of mine and my family and he might not be watching but that winner was for him." Gold Well, who is standing for 5,000 euros in 2013, also had a Cheltenham Festival winner this year with the Jonjo O’Neill-trained Holywell (6g Gold Well-Hillcrest, by Thatching).