Chipping Norton-based jockey Kielan Woods was overjoyed after notching the biggest success of his career on runaway winner Croco Bay at Ascot.

The 22-year-old’s mount, trained by Ben Case at Edgcote, near Banbury, turned the Country Living Handicap Chase on Saturday into a procession to stroll home by 19 lengths and capture the first prize of £43,330.

Woods, on his first ride over fences at the Berkshire track in the two-miles-and-one-furlong contest, said: “I didn’t dare look behind me.

“I was thinking I might get my first winner here and on Channel 4, so I’m absolutely thrilled and delighted with the horse.”

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Croco Bay, formerly trained by Peter Atkinson in north Yorkshire, was repaying a large chunk of the £70,000 Case paid for him at the Brightwell Sales at Cheltenham in May.

And Woods added of the 8-1 chance: “His jumping is very quick. He is a very exciting horse. He could be a horse for round Aintree.

“I half fancied him. I thought he had a good, live outside chance.

“He was only beaten six lengths by Fosters Cross at Galway.

“He is definitely a good buy by Ben.”

Case said: “He has never ran a bad race in his life.

“We bought him last spring as a horse who still had potential and could go forward.

“He is a fantastic jumper and hasn’t got many miles on the clock.

“His forte is his jumping and he has jumped them silly in the straight.”

Case indicated that a trip to Aintree for the Topham Chase next spring is a possible long-term objective.

He said: “He’ll have a holiday now as he’s been on the go since we bought him in May.

“It (the Topham) is a possibility. It’s a bit further, but he stayed up the hill well at Cheltenham behind Johns Spirit last month, and you could argue he could do that round Aintree on good ground.”

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