Swift Perth, the darling of the first round of last year’s Derby, took a break from open racing to return to A1 action at Doncaster on Saturday and got the perfect morale booster. Sent off the 7-4 favourite, he went on at the third turn and kept going to beat Blue Silver by a length and a quarter in 29.83 for the 483 metres, the fastest of the year so far at the Meadow Court Stadium.
Anne Crosse, wife of trainer Peter says: “He hadn’t run since November because he was hit with a virus, so we were really pleased with that run. We are just taking it day by day with him and hoping to get a couple more A1 runs into him before he goes open racing again.”
Swift Perth’s victory at Wimbledon – and Anne Crosse’s post-race celebration – captured the public’s imagination and it was voted the performance of the opening round. Unfortunately the challenge came to an abrupt end as a cough ruled him out of his second round appearance, but the Crosses are keeping their fingers crossed that they will get a second bite at the cherry this summer.
