TODAY’S GROUP Three Bank Holiday Monday feature at Naas has a history of throwing up top-class winners and Kitty Kiernan looks a good bet to continue that trend for the Jim Bolger-Kevin Manning team.
The partnership scored in last year’s Coolmore Fillies Sprint Stakes with this season’s 2,000 Guineas runner-up Cuis Ghaire and favourable comparisons between her and Kitty Kiernan were being made after the latter’s debut success at the track earlier this month.
On that occasion the daughter of Pivotal was prominent throughout and was not all out to beat the Ballydoyle filly Lillie Langtry as well as David Wachman’s A Mind Of Her Own.
Significantly both fillies are back for another crack at Kitty Kiernan as well as last weekend’s Marble Hill heroine, Wrong Answer, who earned quotes of 14 to 1 for the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot after winning on very different ground to what will be on offer today.
The Newmarket winner, Electric Feel, will provide a valuable pre-Ascot form line under Pat Smullen but Kitty Kiernanstill looks the best option to join a Naas roll-of-honour that also includes the subsequent Group One winners, Rumplestiltskin (2005) and Damson (2004).
Irish sprinters have been taking a hammering from their cross-channel brethren for some seasons now and there isn’t likely to be any respite in today’s Listed Sprint with Inxile.
Dandy Nicholls and his jockey son, Adrian, have dominated this race for the last two years with Tax Exile and Inxilelooks like being a worthy favourite to complete a Nicholls hat-trick.
Several highly-rated older horses line up for a hot-looking conditions race over seven furlongs and a combination of quick going and a perfect distance could work for Declan McDonogh's mount, Empirical Power.
Eddie Lynam’s horse is something of a seven-furlong specialist and that may give him a decisive edge against Three Rocks and the Ger Lyons pair, Dohasa and Leandros.
Whiteball Wondersprang a shock at the Curragh last weekend on very different ground to what is on offer in today's opener. But the Michael Halford team are starting to hit form and the bottomweight can defy a 10lb penalty.
At Listowel, the former Cheltenham hero Hairy Mollygoes to the handicap chase on the back of a good second to Blueberry Boy at the Punchestown Festival and could now be set to provide a popular local victory.
