Irish racing expert Tony Keenan is back with a preview and best bet for Navan this afternoon.
The first day of the Navan Racing Festival was the Gordon Elliott show, though his five winners were not the really short prices they can be at Down Royal as they faced more competition, Bleu De Vassy and Down Memory Lane impressive in their novice wins.
Elliott will look to continue that form today, and has over half the field in the Bar One Racing Troytown Handicap Chase at 2.30, with American Mike the clear first string, Jack Kennedy flagging his intention to ride him weeks ago.
He has a fine record at the track, including when winning the Ten Up in February despite idling, but consistency and jumping have been issues going back to his novice hurdle days.
I only had eyes for Panda Boy when looking at this race midweek as the stiff three miles on decent ground looked ideal for him but he was not declared so a rethink was needed, with Churchstonewarrior and TYRE KICKER now on my shortlist, albeit with nothing like the same confidence.
Despite top weight, Churchstonewarrior could be on a reasonable mark having won the 2023 Ten Up over course and distance from a horse that was running well in the National Hunt Chase before falling and went close in the Coral Gold Cup.
His second season over fences was a mess, even reverting to hurdles on his final start, but a stable switch over the summer has sparked him back to form and he ran well in the Kerry National last time over a track sharper than ideal.
Marginal preference for Gavin Cromwell’s bottom weight, however. He was very progressive sent over fences in early 2023 before being off the track for 560 days before his most recent run when second at Galway in October.
That was a promising effort as he understandably took time to warm up in his jumping early but came from a long way back to by beaten less than a length by an unexposed type, not helped by been taken off a straight line by that one early in the straight but keeping on well in the manner of a horse that would like a step up in trip.
He gets that now and is one of the least exposed in the field and while the bounce is a factor after a long time off, the hope is that he might improve for that run. This meeting has not been the target for Cromwell that it has been for Elliott but two of his five recent runners in this race have placed, including the runner-up last year.
The rest of the card is not as classy as yesterday, but it is competitive, the Bar One Racing Tara Handicap Hurdle at 1.55 particularly so with 24 runners. Londonofficecallin has the look of one that is still ahead of his mark over hurdles having improved again on the flat since his last jumps run, and connections have opted to come here rather than Cheltenham, but the market agrees with that view.
Slade Steel runs in the Race And Stay Irish EBF Beginners Chase (3.05) and it is no gimme despite just facing three rivals while The Yellow Clay is odds-on for the John Lynch Carpets & Flooring Monksfield Novice Hurdle at 1.20.
He is a representative of sorts of the Champion Bumper form having finished sixth there when things went wrong and should tell us something about the worth of the race, and you can mark me down as unconvinced about it at the moment.
Preview posted at 0835 GMT on 17/11/2024
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