RAZLDAZL BARKLEY defied inexperience to set the fastest time in the heats of the Ladbrokes-sponsored Champion Hurdle at Crayford on Sunday night.

Making his debut over hurdles after wins for trainer Ricky Holloway on the flat over 540m and 714m at Crayford, the April 2022 son of Superior Panama and Boylesportstwink paced up to lead into the first bend and, jumping really impressively for a novice, went away for a superb six and a quarter lengths success over Droopys Fivestar (Allison Kelly-Pilgrim) and Swift Quincey, a kennelmate of the winner, in 23.31sec (+20).

Holloway-trained runners landed three of the four Champion Hurdle heats with Harlequin Ernie and Four From Two grabbing gold in heats one and four respectively.

Harlequin Ernie set the tone for the night for six-time Champion Hurdle-winning trainer Holloway when winning the opening heat as the youngest runner through to the semi-finals produced a fine piece of front-running to score in 23.85sec (+20), the near 37-kilo July 2022 son of Knocknaboul Syd and Flaming Sahara leading home Good Ellie (Jean Liles) and another Holloway jumper in Razldazl Randall by a length and a quarter.

Four From Two rounded off the heats in good style for the local handler with a gutsy display in heat four after trapping smartly before being crowded out, then coming again to force his way through rounding the final bends. The June 2021 son of Ballymac Bolger and Mystical Moll went on for a length and a quarter win over Mind Your Toes (Dave Lee) and kennelmate Signet Harper in 23.95sec (-20) for the one-lap trip.

Halting the Holloway rout was Barry O’Sullivan as the man who has schooled many a Champion Hurdle winner sent out the prolific-scoring Traceys Sydney to score a trap-to-line victory in heat three, the October 2021 son of Droopys Sydney and Traceys Pet winning by two and a half lengths in 23.54sec (+20) from Dazl Hermes (Ricky Holloway) and Nunhead Shiv, a kennelmate of the winner.

Crayford racing manager Danny Rayment, overseeing the action on Sunday, was impressed by the quality on show – particularly the impression left by Razldazl Barkley.

“As hurdling debuts go, that was right up there,” said Rayment. “We’d seen quite a bit of him on the flat here and then in his schooling trials – and clearly Ricky has done plenty of work with him at home. Nevertheless it’s one thing to jump well in trials – and we definitely saw improvement – but in race conditions the pressure is on. However, his jumping was low and clearly very quick – just look at the time!

“Ricky’s team as a whole impressed. He came in with a good squad, strong in numbers, but Barry O’Sullivan also has two through to the semis – and his Traceys Sydney again impressed. He’s become a real win-machine, winning seven of his last eight races, and has come on in leaps and bounds over hurdles as a former A1 racer here. It’s also good to see the kennels of Jean Liles, Dave Lee and Allison Kelly-Pilgrim represented in the semis on Sunday. We’ve got two good races to look forward to.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=413267&raceId=1051434

Trap draw for Sunday’s semi-finals: https://assets.cj1.in/imminent-otter/production/assets/results/Crayford/form-guides/Crayford-Sunday-14th-July-2024-Champion-Hurdle-Semis-Maiden-Sprint-Final-Form.pdf