14:10 Naas

Sunday 26 February 2023

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

Naas Racecourse Business Club Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 14:10 | Winning time: 3m 47.2s

Libby^p1³⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 11-12| J: J J Slevin| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 111

5/1

Fair maiden on the Flat. Thrice-raced maiden. 7/1, 3¾ lengths fourth of 9 to Greyval in juvenile hurdle at Doncaster (16.6f, good) 30 days ago. Cheekpieces on first time. Makes handicap hurdle debut.

Form: 444

Surac^p1²³

Age: 4| Weight: 11-12| J: Danny Mullins| T: R O'Brien| OR: 111

11/1

Surpassed Flat form when making winning hurdles debut in August. 7/2, twelfth of 14 in handicap at Dundalk (10.7f) 23 days ago. Switches from Flat to hurdles. Cheekpieces on first time. Makes handicap hurdle debut from a lenient-looking mark.

Form: 1333

Luminous Light⁴¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-10| J: D F O'Regan| T: A McCann| OR: 109

9/2

Fairly useful winner at 8f on Flat. Fourth of 21 in juvenile hurdle at Punchestown (16f, heavy, 17/2) 41 days ago. Makes handicap hurdle debut.

Form: 584

Pont Audemer²⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 11-8| J: Kieren Buckley⁽³⁾| T: G P Cromwell| OR: 107

16/5

Lightly-raced winner over hurdles. 3/1, career best when winning 10-runner handicap hurdle at Limerick (16f, soft) 26 days ago, quickening clear. Raised 16 lb for that but there should be plenty more to come.

Form: 00001

By Your Side¹⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 11-6| J: Jordan Gainford| T: G Elliott| OR: 105| BF

9/2

Promising individual. 7/2, good third of 16 in handicap hurdle at this course (15.6f, good to soft) 15 days ago and would have finished closer without a bad mistake at the last. Has to be of serious interest.

Form: 6U6033

Thetys⁶¹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-13| J: P J Carberry| T: A J Martin| OR: 98

11/2

Lightly-raced maiden. 7/1, respectable fourth of 18 in handicap hurdle at Limerick (16f, heavy) 61 days ago, running on late. Likely to improve.

Form: 8754

Mr Globalist²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-10| J: P J O'Hanlon⁽⁵⁾| T: P J Rothwell| OR: 95

16/1

20/1, respectable fifth of 9 in juvenile hurdle at Punchestown (16f, heavy) 27 days ago. Can make presence felt.

Form: 2345P5

Wendell's Lass¹⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 10-4| J: Simon Torrens| T: T Gibney| OR: 89

50/1

Modest maiden on the Flat. 125/1, ninth of 15 in novice hurdle at Fairyhouse (16f, good to soft) 18 days ago. Makes handicap hurdle debut and yet to show any real ability over obstacles.

Form: 009

Crafty Gael²⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-3| J: Shane O'Callaghan⁽⁷⁾| T: R O'Sullivan| OR: 88

8/1

Lightly-raced maiden. 10/1, good sixth of 22 in handicap hurdle at Punchestown (20.3f, heavy) 27 days ago, unable to sustain effort. Down in trip. Should progress.

Form: 8006

Non-Runners

Winterscape¹⁸

Weight: 11-7| Age: 4

T: P Nolan J: R Deegan

Forecasts

Pont Audemer (16/5), By Your Side (9/2), Luminous Light (9/2), Libby (5/1), Thetys (11/2), Crafty Gael (8/1), Winterscape (10/1), Surac (11/1), Mr Globalist (16/1), Wendell's Lass (50/1)

SURAC is clearly a better hurdler than Flat performer and the assessor looks to have taken a big chance with his opening mark. By Your Side would have finished a lot closer without a bad mistake here a fortnight ago and is a threat, with Pont Audemer also considered on the back of an easy win at Limerick.