'He's given us hope for the future' - 66-1 winner Liricist keeping Graham Craig feeling joli

Liricist’s official mark of 32 was described as "a bit of an embarrassment" by Tony Newcombe after his victory in a nursery at Chepstow last week.

It was a chastening moment for the official handicapper as the youngster obliged at 66-1 despite being 13lb 'wrong' at the weights. For a trainer who has been pilfering little races when opportunity knocks for the last 30 years, it was the equivalent of leaving the front door open and a shiny new MacBook in the hallway.

The colt’s owner-breeder, Graham Craig and his Joli Racing brand, has also been causing a surprise since his very first winner, Joli Flyers, scored at Kempton in 1998 for the late Mick Haynes at odds of 20-1. In mitigation, it was the end of a long losing run for both Newcombe and his owners, whose horse had been beaten upwards of 18 lengths in all three prior starts.

"We’ve sent Tony some absolute no-hopers and he gives everything his best shot," says Craig. "For a two-year-old to win for him has thrown a spanner into the works on stats.

"It was, as Tony said, a bit embarrassing. We were beaten by an 80 horse at Brighton [Praetorian] and the other two in front of him that day [Graduated and Broadhaven Bay] have both won as well.

"They’d given him a mark and it was a fair reflection on what he’d probably seen. I didn’t have the faith of Tony, but I had a tickle, he went from 100-1 to 66s, the bookies ran for cover!"

Craig, who was an aspiring apprentice jockey in the late 1960s but became a little too heavy, sensibly opted for a career in shipping with DHL instead. Joli Racing began alongside Chris Butterfield, who had raced Joli Flyers’ obscure sire Joli Wasfi and it has been continued by Craig, who breeds horses from David Stack’s Coolagown Stud.

Liricist is out of the unraced Ophelia’s Song, and had been bought back when offered at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale.

"He was a bit of a nuisance on his initial run at Salisbury, which was to see if he was [suited by] five, six or seven furlongs;, he’s by Prince Of Lir over a Halling mare, so you’re not sure," says Craig.

"This was a pleasant surprise. We did know he had strengthened up. Brighton was better than Epsom, where I think he saw himself on the big screen and stood still for a photo. 

"I lost my voice halfway up the straight at Chepstow. Billy Loughnane [on odds-on favourite Inshad] went past us in a very short space of time but he battled back and Ray Dawson said he was very game. 

"We think he’ll be a better three-year-old. It’s very pie in the sky but he’s actually given us hope for the future and for a small organisation like ours, it’s always a bonus."

Tony Newcombe has been the long-time trainer for Joli RacingCredit: Mark Cranham

The idea was to have him out again quickly, and Liricist duly lines up at Leicester on Tuesday for another 7f nursery, carrying a 6lb penalty. 

"Unfortunately Tony did mention he thought he was a 55 horse; he didn’t have to say that!" says Craig, tongue-in-cheek.

Ophelia’s Song had cost just €2,000 and is one of around 20 mares Craig now has in his collection.

"I bought her in foal to Gutaifan. That was the year his star was in the ascendancy and then it plummeted back to earth," he says ruefully. "She’s bred a couple of ordinary winners in Italy but we can’t get her in foal any more. Liricist will be the last one she has, but if they breed me a winner they get a parking spot for life.

"He's the second homebred winner we’ve had in the last three years; we had Joli's Legacy win at Kempton as well."

Craig has been breeding in Ireland since 2009 and has great faith in Stack, with whom there have been some clever trades and touches along the way including finding the granddam of Group 1 winners Ten Sovereigns (Flamelet) and Perfect Power (Saga Celebre) for four-figure sums in the ring.

He says: "My budget is fairly meagre, but I had a result in that I bought a half-sister [Mimiteh] to [2012 Cheveley Park winner] Rosdhu Queen, through Mick Donohoe. I liked the Maria’s Mon bloodline. I bought her fairly cheap and by the time the truck got back to Ireland there were several people on the phone looking to buy her. I was just starting and realised I’d nicked quite a good one. 

"I don’t think I’m the brains behind the outfit. I’ve got the use of Joe Foley at Ballyhane, the boys at Coolagown and Ballylinch. I think once you’ve been there a few years people take you under their wing and offer very sound and professional advice."

Craig is a bit of a rarity among breeders who have a commercial slant in that his preference is to produce horses who stay at least a mile and he is happy to race them if they don't make what he hopes at the sales. He has had many fun times with a handful of partners in Joli Racing with the sprinter Spellmaker, a winner of nine of his 57 starts for Newcombe.

An early success story for Graham Craig was buying a relative of Cheveley Park winner Rosdhu QueenCredit: Edward Whitaker

He says: "I’m trying to do the right thing; there can’t be seven five-furlong races at a meeting. Most people like to go racing and see the horse go round at least once!

"Early on we brought three or four to Newmarket in the hope of selling them, bought them all back and sent them to Tony. You do need to sell on everything and get the shekels in the bank but, as you can tell by the number of mares I've got, when I’ve had the chance to bank it . . . no I’ve gone and bought some more mares!"

Quite a few of Craig's yearlings and foals will be offered by Coolagown at Goffs later in the year and he gives a good mention of a Sands Of Mali, a colt out of the stakes-placed Miss Rebel, as well as a Waldgeist out of Montjeu mare Diamond Sky. He has also kept daughters from the Perfect Power and Ten Sovereigns damlines to strengthen the portfolio.

"I keep reading this phrase 'foundation mare'; unfortunately by the time I get them they’re really old and not going to be foundations, but I’m just trying to extend the family a bit under my own name," he says.

"It’s just a fascination. I’m fully retired now so this is my plan for the rest of my life, maybe go and lean on the fences at Coolagown Stud and pick the Oaks and Derby winner for three years hence running around a field. 

"We've had quite a few winners, not of Group 1 class yet. I don’t think Liricist is going to be the one but we’ve upgraded the mares over the years and hopefully one of them will give us a foal that’ll be the new big thing."

When he finds it, given how so many Joli horses have flown under the radar already, there might be the chance of once again being underestimated by the bookmakers and assessors alike.

"They might look like no-hopers and most of them are," Craig chuckles. "But there’s a little pearl in there on many occasions."

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