A heavy track made for testing conditions in the marathon 3m5f Sussex National at Plumpton on January 2 with the Bob Buckler-trained veteran Double Dizzy landing the spoils when running home 15 lengths clear of Justabout.
Double Dizzy, left, and Mizzurka, ridden by Carey and Bob Buckler
The winner had been travelling ominously easily in Cheltenham’s Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase on December 9 when he was caught up in the melée which saw several of the front-runners take the wrong course. Having rejoined the correct course, he finished a distant sixth and was subsequently fifth in the Silver Fox Handicap Chase at Leicester on December 28.
Double Dizzy hails from a family that his trainer knows well. Buckler trained his dam, the talented staying chaser Miss Diskin, by Sexton Blake, and also has in his stable Double Dizzy’s Alflora half-sister, Mizzurka, whose four wins include a Listed bumper at Sandown.
British-bred and owned by Martyn Forrester, Double Dizzy, a son of Clarendon Farm’s Double Trigger, has now extended his tally of victories to five, and he has also been placed 17 times from his 62 starts. Somerset-based Buckler, who keeps his charge fresh for his races by taking him hunting regularly, is considering a return to Cheltenham’s cross-country fences for the Festival in March.
