The phrase ‘walking on water’ could apply to Wiltshire farmer Stan Rawlins following the success of Crawter at Cheltenham on Friday evening.
Trained by Harriet Waight - who is joint-owner with Rawlins - six-year-old Crawter, ridden for the first time by Paddy Barlow, won the Venatour Sports Travel Intermediate Hunters’ Chase, landing Rawlins, a long-time owner in the sport of point-to-pointing, with £5,000 in prize money. The joy of a first success at the home of Jump racing probably meant more than the cash.
This morning, while on his way to South Hill in Somerset for this afternoon’s Devon & Somerset Staghounds’ meeting, Rawlins – a key member of the team which helps run Larkhill point-to-point course – said: “You can put all the praise down to Harriet. She trains on Salisbury Plain in the most unorthodox way, but she’s so talented. I buy them she trains them, and it’s been so difficult training on the Plain because it’s become rock hard in this weather. Luckily we’ve been able to box the horses up and take them to Richard Hannon’s to use his all-weather.”
The delighted joint-owner stopped in at Waight’s stable this morning, “a mile up the road” from his own arable and beef farm, to see Crawter who he said had eaten up and was in good form. “As Harriet put it, he came out of the race with a smile on his face,” said Rawlins. Waight trains just two horses, Crawter and Sake Of Secrecy, both in partnership with Rawlins.
Crawter has now won five of six races this season, landing three at his local course of Larkhill, which is right-handed, before winning left-handed at Bitterley and Cheltenham. On his two latest starts he has jumped to his right, and very noticeably over the final few fences.
Crawter (red, yellow colours under Callum Pritchard) on his way to fifth place in a maiden race at Larkhill in March last year (Ce)
Rawlins said: “He jumps to his right, but he’s obviously got a bit of speed between the fences. When we left for the races I said I’d be happy if he got round. Two out I thought he might be third, then I thought he could be second, but I never thought he could win. After the race his ears were pricked and he was so full of himself.
“I wanted to run him a week earlier at Stafford Cross because it’s a flat, right-handed track, and now he’s won at Cheltenham. It’s not bad for a horse bought by accident.”
Crawter’s first two races were for Warwickshire trainer Fran Poste, for whom he finished second at Dingley and fourth at Upcott Cross in Devon in the spring of 2023.
Rawlins said: “We were at Upcott Cross and a race was put back three-quarters of an hour before Crawter ran. I watched Charlie Poste leading him round and I could see he was a nice horse.
“After racing we went back to the lorry park to see Josh Newman [who has subsequently ridden Rawlins’ horse four times this season, but was unavailable on Friday] and I mentioned Crawter to him and he said, ‘Let’s go and look at the horse’, and I said ‘No, no, I’d have to talk to the Paymaster General first’ – meaning my wife Sally. The following morning Josh rang and said the horse was for sale, so I phoned Nick Pearce [assistant trainer to Dan Skelton], who lives near the Postes in Warwickshire, and asked him to go and take a look. Nick rang back later that day and said ‘If you don’t buy him, I will’, so it was pure chance that we bought Crawter.
“I think that’s probably it for this season. There is a hunters’ chase at Newton Abbot, although nothing has been firmly decided.”