While York’s Ebor Festival may provide a number of Melbourne Cup runners from England and Ireland, a specific, hot contender showed himself recently in the shape of Crystal Black.
We’re looking at what this Irish galloper could bring to the party as he’s aimed at the 2024 Melbourne Cup.
Crystal Black’s Profile
Crystal Black is a six-year-old gelding, trained in Ireland by Gerard Keane.
By Teofilo, he was not bred to be a stayer. Tried at distances between 1200m and 2000m by Melbourne Cup winner Dermot Weld, he was shifted to Keane where he began to improve.
Still running over 1400 metres as recently as June 2023, he eventually began to move up in distance. A one-mile win was his first in ten attempts and despite being narrowly beaten next time, he has not looked back.
Five wins a row have now been racked up under jockey Colin Keane, son of the trainer. After three handicap wins at the Curragh, he was given a Royal Ascot assignment in June where he went up to 2400 metres for the first time.
Having landed the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes there, the team at home began to dream of the Melbourne Cup. Knowing he’d need to qualify for the race, a placed finish was needed in Group company at Leopardstown.
Only four turned up in the end for the Group 3 Ballyroan Stakes, but Crystal Black was very impressive again. A commanding five-length win made sure the Cup can be a target now, while another new career high was reached as the handicapper moved him up to a mark of 113.
That mark is important. 113 shows he is classy, but you can already see he’s better than that. Keeping on the right side of the Victoria handicapper is very much in the thoughts of the owner and trainer.
How Will Crystal Black Manage Flemington?
In terms of the turning track, there should be no worries for Crystal Black. He has so far proven to be very versatile indeed.
That versatility also includes underfoot conditions. Lots of Irish horses win their biggest races on soft ground. It’s not always certain however whether they’ve done that because of or in spite of the going.
Crystal Black has indeed won on rain-softened ground, but his best form so far is on faster. If we get nice spring ground at Flemington, it’s likely we’ll see this horse at his best.
Yet another tick in Crystal Black’s book is his one recent piece of big handicap form. Though beaten, he ran another cracking race when third in the Irish Cambridgeshire earlier in the year. He faced 21 rivals that day and was not out of place.
In terms of the betting, he hasn’t hit the heights in Australia yet. It’s worth noting though that the European-controlled big layers have him as short as $9 favourite in places. He is clearly well fancied.
