SAVANA WINNER landed Diane Henry a third TV Trophy success when powering through to take the £9,000 first prize in the Ladbrokes.com-sponsored showpiece – the first leg of Crayford’s Triple Crown.

And the word from connections in the immediate aftermath of a glorious success for the precocious Kevin Boothby-owned marathon star is that a return to the Kent track for the Boxing Day Marathon is now the cards.

The 874m festive showpiece is the middle leg of the newly introduced Triple Crown at Crayford, with the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket in February completing the set. A £5,000 bonus awaits the winner of all three – only Savana Winner can do it now.

An August 16 daughter of Ballymac Eske and Old Refrain, the lightly raced bitch was having just her fourth start in the UK since being purchased by her owner, the Henlow promoter, at the Thurles sales. Trainer Henry is one of his trainers there.

“When I bought her, I told Diane she’d win the TV Trophy for her – but then Diane had the hard work ahead of her!” he said. “To be fair she’s done magnificently with her, trained her to perfection to produce the goods on the night it mattered.

“I always thought she had a major chance, and could get a run in behind them, and that’s what’s happened. Fair play to Ladbrokes for putting up the prize and to Crayford who have been absolutely brilliant, top-drawer last week and this.”

Diane Henry with the August ’16 duaghter of Ballymac Eske and Old Refrain

The Jonathan Blencowe-trained Tellhersomething was first to show from Maireads Ivy (Derek Knight) and, while the favourite tried to range upsides and on terms, the ex-Towcester bitch, now based like the eventual winner at Henlow, held firm.

Goldies Hotspur (Patrick Janssens) forced her way into the picture before halfway and ran a cracker as she tried to successfully defend her crown, while Slippy Maggie (Hazel Kemp) was also now getting into full flow approaching the final lap, ready to launch a challenge.

Savana Winner was now stalking her prey and came with a storming run heading into the penultimate turn, only to be forced to check her run with space tight, before manoeuvring a way round the field off the last bend to strike on the run for home, winning by a length from Goldies Hotspur in 56.87sec.

“What a race she’s run, when it counted most,” said winning trainer Henry, who lifted the trophy for a third time after King Kane (2014) and Borna Mindy (2016) and will no doubt set her sights on defending the title with her still-young star when the competition moves to Romford next year.

“She comes into her own over extreme distances and I’m delighted,” added Henry. “It was a quality line-up, one of the best TV Trophys there has been in recent years, and just her fourth race for me. You couldn’t ask for more.”

Danny Rayment, the Crayford racing manager who presented the trophy, said: ‘It’s been a real honour to stage the TV Trophy for the first time and we’ve had a great competiiton. Over the years our 874m trip has attracted the marathon cream, and it did so again.

“It’s the first leg of our Triple Crown this year and a great way to start the initiative. I’ve talked to a good few people tonight, and we agreed the line-up was the best we’ve had for this race in ten or 15 years – and they’ve produced the goods for us tonight.”