16:10 Naas

Sunday 23 February 2020

All14:1014:4015:1015:4016:1016:4017:10

Naas Nursery Of Champions Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 16:11 | Winning time: 3m 57.80s

Boston Hill^p1⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: B J Foley| T: K P Egan

100/1

Well beaten in bumpers, hurdle races and failed to complete on last two starts over fences; difficult to see him being good enough even in first time cheekpieces.

Form: 70-9FUR

Demophon¹⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: J B Kane⁽⁵⁾| T: G P Cromwell

100/1

Pulled up on hurdles debut at Ludlow last year and beaten nearly 100 lengths on latest appearance here in February; hard to see him being good enough.

Form: P-0

Ennemi Public²⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: D N Russell| T: G Elliott| OR: 111

9/1

Has been knocking on the door on his three latest hurdle starts and would not look out of place as the winner; can progress and certainly one to consider.

Form: 476-353

Glendruid²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: M P Fogarty| T: Colm Murphy

16/1

Related to some useful National Hunt types; finished midfield on hurdles debut at Cork in July; difficult to see him being good enough after a long break.

Form: 831

Groody Rover³⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Brian Hayes| T: P Fenton

33/1

Winner of a point-to-point 12 months ago; jumped poorly on maiden hurdle debut finishing seventh of 18 at Punchestown in January; open to improvement.

Form: 331-7

Low Lie The Fields^t⁵³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: D P Holden⁽⁷⁾| T: H De Bromhead

40/1

Gold Well gelding out of a Kahyasi mare; two midfield efforts to date suggests he may be more of a long term prospect but merits respect from a top yard.

Form: 78

Mats Hall^h²³²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: P J McGrath⁽⁷⁾| T: J C McConnell

66/1

Point-to-point winner in March 2018 the Scorpion gelding has struggled a little in a number of bumpers and maiden hurdles since; not seen since July and possibly best watched on return to action.

Form: 41/35-99

Port Stanley²⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: R M Power| T: Mrs J Harrington

5/2

High-class form to his name in a couple bumpers finishing just behind the likes of Envoi Allen and Abacadabras; reasonable efforts on three hurdles appearances to date and one to consider at this level.

Form: 32-5332

Village Mystic¹⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: Donagh Meyler| T: N Meade| D

6/1

Had been showing plenty of ability (including over course and distance) of hurdles but fell last time out when travelling well; definite chance if staying on his feet.

Form: 118/32F

Aliym²⁰²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: Phillip Enright| T: D H Kelly| CD

33/1

Won a bumper on his debut here back in January 2019; put in some reasonable efforts subsequently over hurdles without threatening to win; main drawback here is lack of recent run.

Form: 17-35

Balthar Boy

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: S G McDermott| T: Eamon Courtney

100/1

Fairly well-bred son of Imperial Monarch; related to point-to-point, bumper, and hurdles winners; market should provide some clues.

Form:

Follow The Crowd

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: J S McGarvey| T: A A Howard

50/1

Cost 13,500 euros as a three-year-old; first foal; related to Midlands National winner Another Excuse; hard to assess on debut.

Form:

Get Crackin⁴²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: A W Short⁽³⁾| T: E Cawley

100/1

Reasonably bred gelding; beaten 100l and unfancied on only hurdles appearance at Punchestown in January; entitled to improve but would need to massively to play a role.

Form: 0

Lynwood Gold²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: P D Kennedy| T: Mrs J Harrington

9/2

Winner of two of his 20 starts on the Flat for Mark Johnston; showed plenty of promise on hurdles debut at Fairyhouse in January when tiring in the closing stages; should be fitter here and has excellent chance if progressing.

Form: 4

Mister Kap Rock¹³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: C A Landers⁽⁵⁾| T: R O'Sullivan

33/1

Not enough form shown over hurdles and chases in France to suggest he will be good enough on Irish debut for new connections.

Form: 338-F

Pure Genius^h⁷⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: Mark Walsh| T: T M Walsh

2/1

Career start came on the Flat in France, winning a 1m6½f contest in September 2018; pleasing debut over hurdles on return to action in November and similar performance last time at Navan in December; should improve again.

Form: 43

Sky Tenor⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-11| J: I J McCarthy| T: A Donoghue

100/1

Related to plenty of bumper and hurdle winners; pulled up on only point-to-point outing and tailed off on hurdles debut recently at Navan; difficult to see him being good enough.

Form: P0

Her Nibs¹⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: Ian Power| T: P Breen

100/1

By Papal Bull is a half-sister to 2m5f/2m6f hurdle winner North Hill out of a dam successful over hurdles and fences; has shown very little in the way of promise in a bumper and last time out over hurdles.

Form: 80

Ava Rose^h¹⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: Danny Mullins| T: Noel O'Neill

100/1

Disappointing on her sole bumper outing before being similarly poor on hurdles debut next time; not a real betting proposition at the moment.

Form: 80

Loudest Whisper²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: C D Maxwell| T: E D Delany

100/1

Daughter of Maxios; modest at best on the Flat and very disappointing on both hurdles outings to date; unlikely to get competitive.

Form: 00

Non-Runners

Magic Piper²⁹

Weight: 11-12| Age: 6

T: T Gibney J: O R Brown

The Tack Room⁵⁶

Weight: 11-12| Age: 6

T: J E Kiely J: N P Madden

Papal Count²¹⁹

Weight: 11-11| Age: 5

T: A Lynch J: Keith Donoghue

Forecasts

Pure Genius (2/1), Port Stanley (5/2), Lynwood Gold (9/2), Village Mystic (6/1), Ennemi Public (9/1), The Tack Room (14/1), Glendruid (16/1), Papal Count (25/1), Groody Rover (33/1), Aliym (33/1), Mister Kap Rock (33/1), Low Lie The Fields (40/1), Follow The Crowd (50/1), Mats Hall (66/1), Magic Piper (66/1), Ava Rose (100/1), Loudest Whisper (100/1), Demophon (100/1), Sky Tenor (100/1), Get Crackin (100/1), Her Nibs (100/1), Balthar Boy (100/1), Boston Hill (100/1)

PURE GENIUS has shown enough on his two hurdles appearances to suggest he will make a capable hurdler in time and given the lack of strong opposition he is the selection especially if he is allowed to dominate from the front. Ennemi Public ran well enough on his latest start at the end of January and a repeat of that effort should see him go close for leading stable. Lynwood Gold was doing her best work in the closing stages in a recent race at Fairyhouse. That came on the back of a fair break and he should be more ready here.