Jim Crowley: Former jump jockey aims for All Weather Championships flat success

“She absolutely dotted up that day,” Crowley told BBC Sport. “I wasn’t quite expecting her to win the way she did, beating a very good horse into second.

“She seems to have progressed hugely and I’m really looking forward to her especially from a great draw [in the stalls] in two on the inside.

“A mile is Mindurownbusiness’ distance. We tried him over a mile-and-a-quarter and it didn’t quite work out that day, but he bounced back at Wolverhampton with a very convincing win. When I asked him to pick up, he put the race to bed very quickly against some well-seasoned horses. He goes to Lingfield with an excellent chance.”

It is 10 years since Crowley, born and raised close to Ascot racecourse, switched to flat racing from jumping after riding more than 300 winners, many for Yorkshire-based trainers Sue and Harvey Smith, for whom he worked.

The son-in-law of retired Classic-winning trainer Guy Harwood still keeps an eye on his old colleagues and was among the crowds on day one of the Cheltenham Festival to watch Annie Power assert her authority in the Champion Hurdle, but that is as far as it goes these days.

Crowley’s total of more than 30 wins on the artificial tracks this season puts him in the top half-dozen jockeys behind All-Weather champion Luke Morris.

Yet the love of racing over jumps has not left him completely. He said: “I grew up in a point-to-pointing family so jumping was always in my blood, and you can’t replace the buzz of riding a nice jumper in flat racing, it’s impossible. Do I miss it? Sometimes, but probably not the way of life.