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Naas Preview - A Dandy Bank Holiday Monday?
04
June 2007
Punting on the Naas Bank Holiday card ought to carry a health
warning as the racing surface at the Kildare venue is likely to
differ significantly from official going advertised in the media.
Reports suggests racing will take place on ‘good’ ground but
with persistent rain over Ireland in the past few days there is a
strong likelihood the going will have softened appreciably by the
time the action starts on Monday afternoon, and in writing this
preview I have assumed the track will ride no faster than yielding.
A slow surface is likely to inconvenience all the main
protagonists in the listed Naas Sprint Stakes over 5f, with Dandy
Man, Tax Free, Desert
Lord and Osterhase
all preferring to heat their hooves rattle. I have little doubt that
Dandy Man is the best horse in this
race (he may well be the best sprinter in these islands, at least
over the minimum trip), and he could well have the race run to suit
as he has been given a decent draw in the middle with plenty of pace
on his outside. High numbers are favoured at Naas, and he should be
able to track the leaders from stall six. Soft ground would
obviously be against him, as his sole disappointing run last term
came in the Nunthorpe at York, but should it not deteriorate
completely he may be good enough to defy it especially when tissue
prices of 2/1 and bigger look generous. Tax
Free looks more of a 6f horse and has yet to convince
he’s up to this class – his record below group class is far
superior to his strike rate in pattern company and this is a group
race in all but name – while Desert Lord
has never won a race without having run in the previous month. His
Group 1 penalty also makes life difficult. Of the outsiders, I
wouldn’t be surprised to see Facchetti
run a big race, especially if the ground turns really soft. The best
run of his career came at the Curragh on heavy ground, and he is
just about the only one in the field who would relish bottomless
ground.
You’resothrilling is
likely to be a warm order in the featured Swordlestown Stud Sprint
Stakes, a Group 3 for juvenile fillies over 6f. Aidan O’Brien’s
charge is a full sister to Giant’s Causeway, and ran on very well
to take second place in listed race over 5f last weekend on her
racecourse bow. The penny took a while to drop with her on that
occasion but she picked up to great effect in the final stages to
chase the unbeaten Pencil Hill
home. The master of Ballydoyle often starts his better fillies of in
pattern races rather than maidens – Yesterday, Imagine
and Virginia Waters are good
recent examples – and some good judges have been speaking of You’resothrilling
as a Guineas prospect already. However, soft ground may not be ideal
for the daughter of Storm Cat and the best each-way alternative is
surely Raja.
Kevin Prendergast won this race last term with Brazilian
Bride and this Pivotal filly looks sure to make a bold
bid to ensure that the sponsor’s cash (she runs in the colours of Cathal
Ryan, who owns Swordlestown Stud) remains at home. An
impressive winner over course and distance last time, when she had
two of today’s rivals behind her, she is well-drawn and will not
be inconvenienced by soft ground. She can be fancied to uphold form
with Saoirse Abu, who won at the
Curragh last Sunday, as that rival already wants further than 6f,
and similar sentiments apply to Reine De
Coeur. Conversely, The Loan
Express may prove better at five.
The 3.10 is an interesting conditions event over 7f
with a pair of recent Curragh handicap winners in Namaya
and She’s
Our Mark likely to fight out the finish. Preference is
for the latter, as Namaya could
find this ground too slow. On the other hand, She’s
Our Mark relishes cut and seems to have been turned
inside out over the winter, winning both her starts at three. The
Pat Flynn-trained filly possesses a potent turn-of-foot and this 7f
trip may well prove her optimum. The form of her last win was
boosted in the best way possible when Miss
Gorica hosed up at Leopardstown during the week and she
is a strong fancy against her elders here. Chariots Of Fire is
likely to have his followers, but I can’t have a son of Galileo
out of a Darshaan mare at this trip, and at odds of 7/2 he looks
place lay material.
The concluding fillies’ maiden is an interesting affair,
and there could be an upset on the cards if Tim Doyle can get Summer
Gold to reproduce the form of her last run behind Prince
Erik at Leopardstown. The daughter of Barathea is a full
sister to Blitzkrieg (who beat Dylan
Thomas as a 2yo), and she was an eye-catching third on
her last outing, when making strong late headway to chase home a
pair of fancied runners from the Weld and O’Brien camps. Her
unfashionable connections mean she is likely to be under-estimated
in the betting, but Doyle loves nothing more than a tilt at the ring
and any market support can be taken as a strong pointer to success.
Her stable has been in fine form lately, and she could take the
measure of Profound Beauty, who
caught a tartar last time out in Timarwa.
Speaking of Timarwa, the Oxx filly was without
doubt the eye-catcher of last weekend’s Guineas meeting at the
Curragh. She had refused to load into the stalls at Leopardstown on
her seasonal debut and was withdrawn, but the daughter of the
brilliant Timarida was a lot
more willing this time and had her rivals well-cooked turning into
the straight. She scorched home by upwards of three lengths and
looks a group horse in waiting. Royal Ascot is likely to be her next
port of call, with the Ribblesdale the target, and even though she
has only won a maiden, I would rate her one of my bankers of the
week.
Tony
Keenan
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