Jedd O’Keeffe is keen to see his stable star Air Raid given a chance to defend his Scottish Stewards’ Cup crown before a possible outing at Ayr.
The four-year-old was the toast of Hamilton as he kept on well to edge out Mark Johnston’s Lake Volta last July and was tipped to back it up by contending in September’s Ayr Gold Cup.
All did not go to plan though as an injury suffered on the way to the track scuppered the plan for the son of Raven’s Pass and he instead finished his season with a mixed showing at York.
Even so, there was still plenty to be pleased about from his 2019 campaign, with a hat-trick of Hamilton wins the highlight for O’Keeffe.
Plans are afoot to send him back to South Lanarkshire, with the Scottish Stewards’ Cup again his priority, before focusing on what the Leyburn-handler hopes will be a more successful trip to Ayr.
“He’s currently our highest rated horse on the Flat and had a great season last year. We have great affection for him,” he told Sporting Life. “He’s had terrible trouble with his wind over the last few seasons and has had two operations. Last year was last chance saloon with a different wind op and it worked.
“Our principal target is to defend his title at Hamilton and then hopefully the Ayr Gold Cup. We had a disaster last year when he stood on a shoe in the horsebox only a couple of miles away from the yard and we had to turn around and come home again. It was a freak incident and it would be good to head back there this time.”
