Bud Fox makes winning Rules debut to land finale The Gavin Cromwell trained Bud Fox landed some tidy bets when making a winning debut under Rules in the concluding Willie Coonan Memorial INH Flat Race at Punchestown. Successful in his only point-to-point start, when both trained and ridden by Derek O'Connor, the Galway man retained the mount on this occasion. Travelling easily in fourth entering the straight, O'Connor had to wait for a gap as Galileo Sand and Eagle of Destiny vied for the lead. The latter filly went on over two-furlongs out but broke down and unfortunately exited the race. Bud Fox came through on the inner to head Galileo Sand over a furlong out, finding plenty inside the final furlong to easily beat Celestial Tune and First Fifteen. Gavin Cromwell said: “His work has always been good at home. He has plenty of gears. “Derek obviously trained him to win his point-to-point and strongly recommended him. I know they often do but he was mad about this fella and he’s a lovely horse going forward. “I’ll have a conversation with the owners, but I’d imagine that will be it for the moment and then go jumping next season. We have all summer to think about it.” Additional reporting by Alan Magee.
