Should we stay or should we go?
THE Winning Ways syndicate are in Cheltenham today with a great chance with Raise The Beat. But the path has not always been straight. If pure, naked enthusiasm for horseracing was measured like the strength of a river then Oran Crean would be a cascading white-water rapid well on its way to the waterfall.
Crean, a mild-mannered accountant by day, transforms by night into the fearless manager of the Winning Ways Enigma syndicate, a menagerie of ten, who three years ago bought a baby horse and sent him to be trained by Colm Murphy in Wexford. The skinny youngster has grown up to be Raise The Beat and arguably represents Ireland’s best chance to capture today’s Weatherbys Champion Bumper.