16:40 Naas

Sunday 26 February 2023

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

Spring Festival Trials At Naas Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 16:40 | Winning time: 3m 46.9s

Garrybello^h1,t1¹¹⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-6| J: Keith Donoghue| T: T Cooper| OR: 123

100/1

14/1, well-beaten last of 10 to Fortunedefortunata in handicap hurdle at Galway (16f, heavy) 119 days ago. Hood/tongue tie may well him finish off his race.

Form: 1F1P-0

Wajaaha^p⁴⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 11-6| J: Liam McKenna⁽⁵⁾| T: P J McKenna| OR: 123| BF

50/1

18/1, first run since leaving Charles Byrnes when tenth of 14 in handicap at Dundalk (12f) 44 days ago, merely passing beaten rivals. Switches from Flat to hurdles. Difficult ask.

Form: 2123/12

Cerberus⁷⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: J P Shinnick⁽⁷⁾| T: A Leahy| OR: 122

40/1

Seventeen runs since last win in 2019. 18/1, creditable fourth of 13 in handicap hurdle at Thurles (15.5f, good to soft) 70 days ago.

Form: 04P-854

Champion Green^h³⁴⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: J S McGarvey| T: P Roche| OR: 122| C

25/1

Useful winner at 9f on Flat. Respectable eleventh of 21 in Fred Winter at Cheltenham (16.4f, good, 14/1). Off the track since and interesting what the market makes of him.

Form: 42P10-

Vultan¹⁵⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: P J Carberry| T: A J Martin| OR: 122

125/1

Unreliable sort. Useful winner at 12f on Flat. 28/1, pulled up in handicap hurdle at Listowel (16f, good) 156 days ago, losing touch after 3 out.

Form: 21-0P

Blanketontheground^p1⁵⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 11-4| J: M J M O'Sullivan⁽⁵⁾| T: E McCarthy| OR: 121

33/1

Fourteenth of 19 in handicap hurdle (33/1) at Punchestown (19.6f, heavy) 57 days ago. Back down in trip. Cheekpieces on first time in quest to bounce back.

Form: 332250

Fortunedefortunata²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: D F O'Regan| T: G Elliott| OR: 121

6/1

Lightly-raced winner over hurdles. Respectable tenth of 17 in handicap hurdle at Leopardstown (16f, good to soft, 9/1) 21 days ago. May step up on that and represents top yard.

Form: 14-140

Hey Johnny²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-3| J: Danny Mullins| T: T Mullins| OR: 120| D

4/1

Latest win in hurdle at Thurles in January. 12/1, good fifth of 17 in handicap hurdle at Leopardstown (16f, good to soft) 21 days ago, running on late and shaping up quite well by the end.

Form: 1UP415

Tempo Chapter Two²¹²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: Sean Flanagan| T: A Murray| OR: 120

50/1

Latest win in hurdle at Fairyhouse in February 2022. Pulled up in handicap hurdle at Galway (16f, good to soft, 11/1), struggling before 3 out. Off 7 months. Rejoined yard after leaving Willie Mullins.

Form: 21000-P

Bigz Belief^t⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-0| J: J B Foley| T: M J Smith| OR: 117| C

28/1

C&D winner. 66/1, fourteenth of 17 in handicap hurdle at Punchestown (23.5f, good to soft) 7 days ago. Significantly back down in trip and has dropped to a handy mark if he can bounce back.

Form: 780680

Carnfunnock⁶⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-13| J: J J Slevin| T: S R B Crawford| OR: 116| BF

10/3

Promising sort. 2 wins from 4 runs this season. Evens, second of 4 in minor event hurdle at Punchestown (16.4f, soft) 69 days ago. Stable having good spell. Makes handicap hurdle debut. Big player.

Form: 138-112

Sacchoandvanzetti³⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 10-10| J: Rachael Blackmore| T: J Queally| OR: 113

28/1

Cheekpieces on for first time in this code, creditable 10¼ lengths third of 6 to Hey Johnny in handicap hurdle (50/1) at Thurles (15.5f, soft) 35 days ago.

Form: 160/903

Little Mixup⁴¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-7| J: Donagh Meyler| T: D Hogan| OR: 110

22/1

Two wins from 5 runs this season. Latest win in hurdle at Punchestown in December. Good third of 16 in handicap hurdle (7/1) at Punchestown (16f, heavy) 41 days ago. Clearly thriving.

Form: 3-00113

Roi De Dubai⁶⁰

Age: 11| Weight: 10-6| J: Brian Hayes| T: J C McConnell| OR: 109

100/1

100/1, sixteenth of 19 in handicap hurdle at Leopardstown (20f, soft) 60 days ago. Down in trip.

Form: 34-0000

Neveradullmoment^t²⁸

Age: 6| Weight: 10-5| J: L P Dempsey| T: J P Dempsey| OR: 108| BF

6/4

5/2, good second of 18 in handicap hurdle at this course (15.7f, soft) 28 days ago, just failing. Up 4 lb but he looks a winner in waiting.

Form: 403-042

One For Joe⁶¹

Age: 8| Weight: 10-5| J: Gary Noonan⁽⁵⁾| T: E McCarthy| OR: 108

40/1

40/1, first run since leaving Charles Byrnes when creditable fourth of 10 in handicap hurdle at Limerick (20f, heavy) 61 days ago. Down in trip.

Form: FP-P5P4

Coolnacritta²⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Peter Smithers⁽⁷⁾| T: M Fahey| OR: 103

50/1

80/1, sixteenth of 18 in handicap hurdle at this course (15.7f, soft) 28 days ago.

Form: 211-P00

Karen's Gift^p³³

Age: 9| Weight: 10-0| J: Simon Torrens| T: P J Rothwell| OR: 103

33/1

Improved to win 11-runner handicap hurdle at Down Royal (17.2f, soft, 14/1) 33 days ago, all out. Not an obvious follow-up contender in this deeper race.

Form: 827371

Non-Runners

Spirit Of Legend¹

Weight: 11-12| Age: 6

T: H De Bromhead J: Rachael Blackmore

Forecasts

Neveradullmoment (6/4), Carnfunnock (10/3), Hey Johnny (4/1), Spirit Of Legend (4/1), Fortunedefortunata (6/1), Little Mixup (22/1), Champion Green (25/1), Sacchoandvanzetti (28/1), Bigz Belief (28/1), Karen's Gift (33/1), Blanketontheground (33/1), Cerberus (40/1), One For Joe (40/1), Wajaaha (50/1), Tempo Chapter Two (50/1), Coolnacritta (50/1), Garrybello (100/1), Roi De Dubai (100/1), Vultan (125/1)

NEVERADULLMOMENT has yet to win a race but took his form up another notch when runner-up here a month ago and he could be the answer to what is admittedly a very open handicap. Carnfunnock makes his handicap debut for his in-form yard and is a threat, along with Fortunedefortunata.