Crowley sizzles at Saratoga
Brian Crowley did not sweep the Saratoga Race Course steeplechase races, but he certainly came close. When the meet concluded, the Irish-born jockey had three wins and two seconds in the five Saratoga jump races.
All three of his Saratoga victories were aboard horses owned by Bill Pape and trained by Jonathan Sheppard. His biggest score was aboard Sermon of Love in the $100,000 New York Turf Writers Cup Handicap (Gr. 1) on Aug. 26. He kept the Pulpit gelding in a stalking position and powered to the lead near the sixteenth pole. Sermon of Love finished a length ahead of Hudson River Farms’ Arcadius, whom Crowley had ridden to a second-place finish in the A. P. Smithwick Memorial (Gr. 2) on Aug. 5.
Sermon of Love’s New York Turf Writers victory mirrored his score in the $70,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes on July 29, when Crowley gave the seven-year-old gelding a strong, savvy ride to win by a half-length. Two weeks later, he secured another victory for the Pape-Sheppard team with a late move aboard Lead Us Not, who won by three-quarters of a length. He also rode Lead Us Not to a second-place finish in an allowance-optional claimer on Sept. 2.
Crowley, 29, carried considerable riding experience into his U.S. debut. Licensed in England and Ireland, he recorded 164 victories before his United States excursion. Through Sept. 9, he had five victories from 14 jump starts, a heady 36% strike rate, and purse earnings of $184,040. He ranks 10th by wins and 5th by purses won.
