Crawford crafts Queensland Cup champion into a Topgun contender

By Isaac Murphy

Classy Ethics’ transformation from staying prospect to superstar is almost complete.

In the space of four months, the bitch has gone from a 600-metre Dapto winner to a Group 1 Queensland Cup champion under the watchful eye of Jeff Crawford.

For the time being, he will bid his star pupil farewell as she heads for Melbourne for the Topgun Stayers at The Meadows on November 7.

“It’s been a journey with her to develop a raw young talent into a Group 1 winner and perennial contender in the big staying races, it’s been a real thrill to be a part of and to see her get a start in the Topgun tells me I’ve done my job,” Crawford said.

“It’s the second year in a row we’ve been given an invitation to the race after Radar Gunn got the nod last year, we’re doing something right and it would be great to find another one to do it again next year.

“With quarantine periods and my obligations here at home unfortunately I can’t go down this year to watch her go around, she’s headed to the kennels of Jamie Innes who I’m sure will get the best out of her.”

Crawford noticed Classy Ethics’ potential when racing for David Smith in New South Wales, and her original trainer was happy to give her an extended run in Queensland - now it’s her turn for a Victorian crusade.

“In consultation with the owner David Smith, with the lack of staying races on here in the next couple of months we’re sending her to Jamie and are going to give her an extended campaign in Melbourne where she can focus on other upcoming races like the Bold Trease,” Crawford said.

“As much as I would have loved to have been a part of it, one dog doesn’t make a kennel and it would be pretty hard on her giving her just the one run in the Topgun and flying back, she gets her chance to see if she’s up to the grade.

“If that goes well, I’d love to see her back with me for the Group races early next year but there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before then.”

Coming off season, Classy Ethics may be a little underdone for the big race on November 7, but Crawford said she’s been thriving on her work at home and if there’s any dog that can do it fresh, it’s her.

“Ideally we would have probably liked another week or two to have her prepared for her trial at The Meadows next Monday to determine her seeding and box draw, but she’s such an honest little bitch who just runs all day, I think she’ll go well,” Crawford said.

“She just loves to run, she’s had a couple of hit outs up our straight this morning and looks like she wants to go again, it’ll be sad to see her go but I look forward to watching her from afar and really hope I can get her back in Queensland one day.”

Crawford caught the staying bug early and has placed an emphasis on buying and breeding as many quality stayers as possible over his career.

“I’ve always had an affinity for stayers, the first bitch I ever trained Spiral Magic started out as a sprinter and ended up in a National Distance Final,” he said.

“In proportion to other kennels, we probably have had a higher percentage of stayers whether we went and found them as with Classy Ethics or bred them like Mrs. Thursday and Piping Hot who John Dart raced successfully with.

“I just find them an absolute thrill, it’s tough to get a hold of a good one but when you do, they’re a whole lot of fun to race.

“I’ve got a spare kennel now for a couple of months at least, I might have to go and find myself one again.”

Crawford has plenty to keep him busy while he keeps an eye on Classy Ethics, his kennels are the busiest they’ve ever been and stacked full of talent ready to return from season.

“I’ve got 25 dogs in work at the moment and had 17 runners last week which is our largest ever and a number we’ve been looking to get to for a while,” he said.

“On top of that, I’ve got two sets of pups at six and 12 months, a couple injured and a few coming back from season including Classy Ethics.

“Some others I’m looking forward to having back are Eulogia, Kiss And Spin, On El and Kiss And Roll who all came on season around the same time and put a bit of a dent on my high end runners, but they’ll all be back soon.”