IRVIN S Naylor owned both the first and second place finishers in the Grade 1 Colonial Cup Steeplechase last weekend in Camden and both are sons of Azamour. The winner was the five-year-old Aga Khan and French-bred Dawalan and he had more than five lengths to spare over the eight-year-old Irish-bred Rawnaq. The winner was ridden to victory by Ross Geraghty, a man with a considerable pedigree himself.

The first two in the Colonial Cup are trained by Cyril Murphy and this recruit to the training ranks in the last few years is making quite a splash. Irish-born, he was a very successful rider over jumps in the USA before turning his attention to training in 2011 and among his victories in the saddle was a Breeders’ Cup Chase. Dawalan has provided him with his biggest wins to date and back in October won the Grand National Hurdle at Far Hills.