Thursday was a solid day for those who like to take short prices, with eight winning odds-on favourites in Britain and Ireland. However, as we all know, the jolly doesn’t always deliver, and the result of the 3:17 at Ffos Las no doubt left many punters scratching their heads.
Representing trainer Alison Thorpe, who registered her most recent winner in 2012 and boasted a record of zero wins from five previous chase outings, Karuma Grey was understandably overlooked by punters as he lined up for the Adept GRP Cabinets Novices’ Handicap Chase. How wrong the odds compilers and punters turned out to be.
Grey Turns to Gold in the Welsh Mud
Sent off at odds of 100/1, the Thorpe-trained, Shane Fenelon-ridden Karuma Grey was the rank outsider of the nine-runner field. For much of the contest, the six-year-old occupied the expected position, i.e. stone cold last. However, rather than struggling in the rear, the son of Jukebox Jury appeared to travel as well as anything as the runners headed into the second half of the 2m5½f event. And then he began to make his move.
Picking off a couple of his rivals in the backstretch, the unlikely hero loomed ominously into contention on the outside as the field moved into the straight, by which stage the market leader Saladins Son was beating a retreat.
Sitting in third over the fourth last, a spring-heeled leap three from home saw him arrive on the heels of long-time leader Art Of Diplomacy. Bounding into the lead at the penultimate obstacle, he only had the staying-on 16/5 chance Hurricane Highway to worry about. However, Karuma Grey was not for passing as he ploughed through the mud to score by 3¾l.
| Pos. | Horse | Trainer | Start Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Karuma Grey | Alison Thorpe | 100/1 |
| 2nd | Hurricane Highway | Evan Williams | 16/5 |
| 3rd | Art Of Diplomacy | Peter & Michael Bowen | 20/1 |
| 4th | Just Over Land | Sam Thomas | 11/4 |
| 5th | Rock Danse | Fergal O’Brien | 11/1 |
| 6th | Knowwhentoholdem | Neil Mulholland | 14/1 |
| 7th | Not Long Left | Venetia Williams | 8/1 |
| 8th | Hold Your Fort | Debra Hamer | 33/1 |
| 9th | Saladins Son | Anthony Honeyball | 15/8 |
A Long Time Away
And so came to an end one of the longest gaps between winners in living memory. Although, in fairness to Thorpe, she hadn’t exactly been active in the interim.
Initially taking out a licence ahead of the 1999/00 campaign, Thorpe endured three barren seasons before bursting into life with 13 winners in 2002/03. Having found her groove, the Carmarthenshire-based handler built slowly but steadily to hit a peak of 35 winners in 2009/10. However, that total dipped to 20 in 2010/11 and 11 in 2011/12.
The slump continued into 2012/13. Sending out only 11 runners that season, Thorpe’s final winner fittingly came at Ffos Las, when Romanesco landed the Enillwyr Grand Slam Handicap Chase at the less spectacular odds of 8/1. In the years since that race, winning rider Wayne Hutchinson and beaten jockeys AP McCoy, Tom Scudamore, and Willy Twiston-Davies have all hung up their silks and headed into retirement.
One month after that victory, Thorpe called time on her training career. Only returning to the training ranks in September 2024, Thorpe had sent out 13 runners without success in the current campaign before Karuma Grey belatedly discovered his mojo.
At Least Somebody Backed Him
Unlike most of the racing fraternity, Karuma Grey’s owner, Aled Evans, appears to have had high hopes for Karuma Grey – so much so that he backed him himself.
Reflecting on the long-odds success of a horse he purchased for £40,000 in January 2024, Evans stated:
“We put a few quid on him, not a lot. The bookmakers got the price wrong – he loves wet ground. I reckon he is a Saturday horse if we can get him right. Shane came back and said he could be a Welsh National horse for next year.”
Watch this space and keep an eye for Karuma Grey when conditions get muddy!
