Naas – Sunday 30th January

It has been very nice to be ending the month on a charge as the selections have turned the corner in the last couple of days to pretty much ensure that January will be left with a healthy profit. This is music to my ears as it can often be a sticky month and we had to endure plenty of rough days along the way. Yesterday at Fairyhouse was a success, with two winners and two places from the four selections. I will be hoping for something similar at Naas this afternoon, and like always, I will be making the trip up to attend the racing there myself. 

Looking at the 12.40, which is the opening race on the card – this 3m1f Grade 3 Novice Chase is undoubtedly the best race on the card and looks to hold some vital clues going forward for both the Festival Novices Chase and National Hunt Chase at the Festival. With the absence of Run Wild Fred, it leaves a more simple task for myself personally, and I will be selecting Stattler to continue his upward progression as a horse with a good performance here. Having been a good novice hurdler last year, including some placed Grade 1 form, he looked to take to chasing well when beating Fighter Allen impressively at Fairyhouse. He goes back up in trip today, which should be of no issue, and he boasts obvious claims. At a price of 6/4 with Paddy Power, he is hopefully going to make it a winning start to the day. 

The 1.10 race is the second and final chase on the card and this novices handicap chase has attracted a big field of 18 to go to post. I am going to take a risk on Mercury Lane in this race, who thus far has shown next to nothing over fences in his beginners chase starts. However, those were strong heats and he was ridden cold from the back, while his best hurdling form has always come from racing prominently. He has been given an opening handicap mark of 116, which seems lenient in comparison to his mark in the 130s over hurdles. His jumping would be a concern, but I’m going to take a risk that if different tactics are employed – he could improve. We will know very early in this race what our fate will be. At a price of 10/1 with Bet365, who offer 5 places – he is worth a chance each way. 

The 2.40 race is the second division of the 2m maiden hurdle for 4 year olds and despite it not looking like one the best contests we will see on the card, there is plenty to get stuck into. It looks competitive, and preference on this occasion has to go to the unexposed Man O Work, for the Paul Fahey team – who ran a hugely eye-catching race at Leopardstown over Christmas. He was sent off an enormous price that day, but was beaten no more than nine lengths when finishing fast into seventh, and he showed plenty of signs of greenness on the way, so improvement can be expected. Young Cian Cullinan keeps the ride, and we should know more about this horse by the end of the day. At a price of 9/2 with William Hill, it is a strong each way bet. 

The 3.10 race is another maiden hurdle but this race is a fair standard better and over 2m3f. The Short Go is your favorite in this race, having come third in a C&D contest on debut, with that form taking a franking from the runner-up since. However, De Bromhead’s runners continue in indifferent form, and he wouldn’t be for me at short odds. Neither would the two Mullins inmates who have their chances, but they can both win from their current prices. Instead, the overpriced runner may well be Mahlar Allstar, who has not been a sound horse, but is a very talented one when getting to the track. He only ran once last season, when third behind Stattler and Glens of Antrim and returned from a long lay when unseating down at Cork when giving and odds on shot something to think about at the last. Returning to this trip should suit and one would assume positive tactics will be employed. He may want the ground a bit more testing ideally, but he should run a sound race. At a general price of 9/1, he is an each way bet. 

Finally we get to the 3.40 race, which is my final selection of the card and it comes in the 2m handicap hurdle. This race has lost Womalko this morning, who had an obvious chance for the in-form Tyner yard, and it is wide open now because of it. The horse I have liked for this race all week is Big King (NAP), and it was good to see connections get their first winner in a while yesterday at Fairyhouse. This horse ran some highly credible races last year and was raised plenty in the handicap because of it, with a second and third following a bloodless win at Navan over 2m. This 8 year old ran a stinker when favorite at Galway on return, but he has been given plenty of time since then and his stable runners are in much better form now than then. These conditions should prove to be optimum, and if fully wound up on his first start for six months, he might take some catching. At a price of 6/1 with Bet365, who offer 4 places – he is a strong each way bet.