Today we have some very contrasting runners as we have a full card of runners down the road in Navan and the great Coachello looks to back up his win last time out in the Nad Al Sheba on the Meydan Super Saturday card.
Over in Navan we start our day off with three runners in the maiden hurdle over 2 miles. All our runners in this are mares so they will all get a fillies allowance. GOLDEN NUGGET is a homebred filly by Champs Elysees for the Bective Stud team. She has a lot of pace in her pedigree so the minimum trip should suit and she will have Sam Ewing in the saddle. MEDIA NARANJA was 4th on debut over hurdles having faded late on. Hopefully that is something she can build on as she looks talented. Jordan Gainford has been booked to ride. Finally we have OPTOFORCE who is for a new owner to the yard. It would be great to see her run well as she is by a first season sire who seems to be showing the right signs. Jody McGarvey takes the ride.
For the mares maiden hurdle we have CHARITY BARNUM. She has come fifth on both occasions now and put in a very good run against the geldings the last day. Back against her own sex hopefully she can go well with Jordan Gainford in the saddle.
Another clutch of runners for the handicap hurdle start with NEIGH BOTHA who has a very workable mark here and can hopefully prove useful with Jordan Gainford in the saddle. MYLESTOWN UPPER managed to score by the finest margin when he ran back in April 2021. He has had his issues and returns to the track. Hopefully he can regain some of his former talent, Denis O’Regan has been booked to ride. Completing the trio is ASHTON COURT who is having his first run for the yard. He is still a maiden and has a rock bottom weight which requires the skills of Sam Ewing.
Next on the list is a maiden hurdle over 2m6f where we have EBENEZER SCROOGE and FANTASIO D’ALENE. Ebenezer was very disappointing the last day and hopefully that was too bad to be true. This looks wide open and hopefully he can put in a good run like his debut, Sam Ewing has been booked to ride. Fantasio D’alene makes his return to the track after a layoff. He has been given time and hopefully he can return to his former self, Jordan Gainford has been booked to ride.
It is a tiny field for the Grade 3 Flyingbolt novices chase where HOLLOW GAMES takes on four other competitors. He has had a little freshener and looks very well in himself. It’ll be a tight but tough field and this will hopefully be something he can build on from with Jordan in the saddle.
The old boys take center stage next in the veterans chase where we have MILAN NATIVE, DEFINITE PLAN and GLENLOE. Milan Native has struggled a bit lately and is still quite high in the handicap for some of those bigger staying chases. We are going to claim off him with Ben Harvey taking off 5lbs. Definite Plan has been a great servant for connections and got to spend some time at home to freshen up. This has been the plan for a while so hopefully we can pull it off with Jordan Gainford in the saddle. Rounding off the crew we have Glenloe who has had his issues but can pull a blinder out of nowhere. He will be ridden by Sam Ewing.
Finally in Navan we have MOTOWN MAGGIE in the mares handicap chase. This is a wide open event that was very undersubscribed. Maggie is by far the highest rated here and comes here off the back of a good run in the hunt for blacktype. She is very hardy and in good form. Ben Harvey rides and claims 5lbs.
Our king of the desert Coachello has a very important run this afternoon as he seeks to claim more gold and an all important spot in the Al Quoz sprint on Dubai World Cup night. The rain came for him the last day and he looked like the only horse who could cope with the easing ground. We were delighted with the run and to add another nation to our list of conquests. This will be a very interesting race for him as many of the horses rated higher than him will be stepping up to 6f today where as we are very happy here. There is light risks of some rain but the course has been beautifully kept and Coachello seems in the form of his life. Hopefully Pat Dobbs can work his magic again.
