Chris Hayes to Partner Anmaat in Irish Champion as Jim Crowley Undergoes Surgery

[Wandering Eyes]

Chris Hayes is poised to ride Anmaat in Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.

The son of Awtaad has been ridden by Jim Crowley in each of his last nine starts, with the highlight of their association coming in October last year when springing a 40/1 surprise in the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot. More recently, Crowley has partnered the seven-year-old to finish second in both the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes in two starts this season.

However, Shadwell's number one rider now faces an indefinite spell on the sidelines after he was injured in a heavy fall at York on Sunday, with Angus Gold, Shadwell's racing manager, reporting that Crowley was in surgery on Monday after suffering a broken leg and a suspected broken pelvis.

That has left Anmaat in need of a new jockey when he attempts to get off the mark for the campaign in the Irish Champion, with trainer Owen Burrows confirming that Hayes is likely to be the man tasked with trying to thwart ante-post favourite Delacroix (Dubawi) and Japanese challenger Shin Emperor (Siyouni), among others.

“It's a shame what's happened to Jim as he obviously knows the horse very well,” said Burrows. “He'll have a new jockey on and I think Chris Hayes is going to ride him. Chris has obviously ridden big winners for Shadwell in Ireland, he won a City of York Stakes for me a good few years ago [in 2017 on Talaayeb], and we felt someone with plenty of experience of Leopardstown was vital.”

Since chasing home Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) at Royal Ascot, Anmaat has missed potential engagements in the G1 Coral-Eclipse and G1 Juddmonte International due to unsuitable ground, but Burrows is optimistic that conditions will be in favour of his stable star on Saturday.

He added, “It looks like the rain is coming over there and I'm looking forward to getting him out again as he seems in really good nick. I think the ground is good to yielding at the minute, which should be fine, and I think there's another drop of rain forecast for tomorrow, so it should be suitable.

“The horse has done nothing wrong this season. I know he hasn't won yet, but he hasn't done a lot wrong. If the ground comes more in his favour, I'd like to think he can run a big race.”

Meanwhile, Trevor Whelan revealed on Monday that he too requires surgery after being injured in the same incident at York which saw his mount, Tiger Bay, brought down by Crowley's Almeraq.

Providing an update on his condition, Whelan posted on social media, “Thanks for all the get well messages, much appreciated. I've broken my leg in three places and due for an operation on it as well.”

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