Irish racing expert Tony Keenan provides a selection on the high-quality card at Naas on Sunday.
Irish racing tips: Sunday May 18
1pt win DANCE NIGHT ANDDAY in 14:32 at Naas at 11/2 (general)
Naas hosts its Royal Ascot Trials card this afternoon and Aidan O’Brien has his usual strong hand, though Ger Lyons is not far behind in terms of depth as he runs his two Group 1-winning juveniles of last season along with other good chances.
Babouche runs in the Goffs Lacken Stakes at 4:33. The Phoenix Stakes winner hasn’t reached that level in two starts since, the soft ground seemingly against her in the Cheveley Park and her trainer flagging that she would need the run in a big way at Cork earlier this month, but it was hardly a positive that the tongue-tie went on then and it is retained now.
She meets Whistlejacket again having had him in second when winning the Phoenix and he won on return at Navan, though not before carrying himself awkwardly, and he has tended to hang in the past so fast ground may not be ideal for him. There is a chance of an upset here.
Magnum Force is in the Sole Power Sprint Stakes at 5:03 and must carry a Group 1 penalty off a break but he looks more of a five-furlong type than some of his rivals, notably Bucanero Fuerte. Big Gossey is an Irish flat racing cult hero but is yet to win in nine starts at Naas.
Lyons runs another speedy type, Lady Iman, in the Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Blackbeard Fillies Sprint Stakes at 4:03 though there is a concern she might be too fast for this; her two impressive wins coming over the minimum trip and the stiff six furlongs here could stretch her while the runner-up in her last race was beaten at short odds at Navan yesterday.
Simply Astounding looks the one to beat after a taking win over course-and-distance last month in a good Timeform timefigure and will likely improve again for that. The market agrees with that opinion, however, and there is a slight concern about her on faster ground, her dam Minding preferring an ease.
The other black type race on the card is the Listed Owenstown Stud Stakes at 2:32 where none of the field are rated higher than 98. DANCE NIGHT ANDDAY had that mark at the end of last season and looks well up to running to it based on her return under a big weight in a handicap at Cork earlier this month.
She finished fourth then, but it was not hard to make the case she shaped like the best horse; nothing travelled better than her, but she got caught behind horses in the closing stages before the race developed away from her on the other wing of the field.
That run should set her up for this and the track suits her fine; she won a handicap here last season before meeting trouble in running in a pair of black type sprints later. Those runs were over six furlongs but seven seems to suit her better now judged on her win in the Sovereign Path at the Irish Champions Festival.
A concern is that she would be held up too far back at a track were a prominent position often suits but she will hopefully get a pace to run at with the likes of Mataariki and Dunum in the field, though she has been ridden forward in smaller field in the past too.
Ross O’Sullivan could have a decent day with Indigo Dream holding solid claims in the Twydil/Clovelly Irish EBF Fillies Maiden at 3:32. She might look vulnerable to an improver but should improve for her first run of the season when weak in the betting, and she did likewise last term, while her form behind Red Letter and Chantez looks good enough to win most maidens.
Sindria is most interesting of the less exposed fillies in the at field, having shaped better than her seventh in a strong Curragh maiden at a big price last October, though it is surprising that she seems a second string for the Weld yard here.
Published at 0920 BST on 18/05/25
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