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Crawford hopeful with Killyglen

Fri 28th Jan 2011, 12:10

Northern trainer Stuart Crawford feels he has Killyglen in good order ahead of Saturday's Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster.

The gelding showed a liking for the track when second to Wogan in the Grimthorpe Chase last year for Howard Johnson.

He has since been switched to Crawford, who is confident his charge is in peak condition for his return to British soil.

"Everything has been going according to plan and I'm hoping Killyglen will go and run well," said Crawford.

"It will probably be the most suitable conditions he will have had in the time that we have been training him.

"He has pleased me in his three races this season. We gave him a couple of runs over hurdles and he went well on ground softer than ideal, so hopefully the better ground this weekend should improve him a bit.

"He jumped very well at Down Royal against Kauto Star. The ground was just too heavy for him that day.

"He took them on and at times he was taking a length out of those horses and he won't be racing against Kauto Star on Saturday."

Peter Deal is hopeful Wogan can maintain his perfect record at Doncaster when he heads to Town Moor.

The 11-year-old is unbeaten in two appearances on the course, having impressed in January and March last year, and his owner admits a return to the track for the race formerly known as the Great Yorkshire Chase has been on the cards for a while.

Nicky Henderson's charge was not disgraced in finishing third on his seasonal reappearance at Haydock and Deal feels the quicker conditions he will encounter this weekend will suit him much better.

"It's his track and hopefully the going will be quicker than it is at most tracks at the moment as good ground suits him well," said Deal.

"He's won twice at Doncaster before and it's been the plan to come back for this race for a while.

"We were happy with his first run of the season at Haydock. He ran well to finish third considering he hated the going.

"King Fontaine beat us that day and we meet him again, but I think we're much better off at the weights, so we'll see."

The ante-post favourite for the race has been the Paul Nicholls-trained Fistral Beach.

The eight-year-old won with something to spare on his latest appearance at Wincanton and his owner Graham Roach expects the step up to three miles to be right up his street.

"He ran very encouragingly at Wincanton and I thought he was quite impressive," said Roach.

"He's going back up in trip on Saturday but he's bred for three miles and I think the drying ground and galloping track will suit him well."