Naas Racecourse: preview and tips for Friday’s seven-race card
Sortudo is one of the favourites for today's Ballymore Novice Hurdle Photo: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
The Jumps season continues apace at Naas on Friday afternoon with a competitive seven-race card on offer for punters heading to the track which included the Grade 1 Ballymore Novice Hurdle.
The card kicks off at 12.43pm with a big field maiden hurdle over two miles before the card comes to a close three hours later at 3.45pm as a field of 11 take on another two mile contest, this time a handicap chase.
Read below for a full rundown of the Naas card on Friday courtesy of BOYLE Sports, who have the very latest horse racing odds.
Up first on Friday’s card is a handicap hurdle over the two mile trip and a big field of 25 are set to tackle it (12.43). Future Prospect, in the hands of master trainer Willie Mullins, looks sure to play a part here on debut over hurdles having won a Fairyhouse bumper in December 2024 and third in a Listed bumper last season. Barley Lane rates the next best, a good second on hurdles debut 48 days ago at Punchestown at a big price.
Race two of the day (1.13) is a 15-runner handicap hurdle over two and a quarter miles and in-form trainer Gordon Elliott gets the nod here with Cumberland River, posting a career best last time when landing a 15-runner handicap at Limerick at 14/1 and is firmly in the frame to follow up quickly.
The feature race of the afternoon is up next, the Grade 1 Ballymore Novice Hurdle, worth a cool €60,000 to the winner (1.43). Mullins and Elliott are usually pretty prominent in this race, Elliott landed it last year with The Yellow Clay, and the high-powered duo are at the top of the market once again. Mullins has Sortudo, who gets the nod over Elliott’s Classical Creek, with the former taken to build on a very comfortable hurdling debut at Cork despite number one stable jockey Paul Townened selecting stablemate Saint Baco. Classical Creek can follow him home, a ready winner at Navan on hurdling debut 55 days ago and looks a very smart prospect for the future.
Elliott could be the way to go in the fourth race of the day (2.13), a Pro/Am bumper, with Hartford who comes from a very strong bloodline and was picked up for a hefty €230,000 by Gigginstown and is a half-brother to the very useful chaser Handstands. Mullins can run him close however with Quiryn, an interesting debutant as a half-brother to numerous winners, including the handy Trapista.
Six runners will take on the three mile novice chase at 2.43, with preference heading the way of the Elliott-trained Kurasso Blue, winning on second chase start last time at Punchestown and is receiving weight all-round here, while the penultimate race of the afternoon (3.13) can head the way of Karamoja, a useful hurdler that was third in the Grade 1 Honeysuckle Mares Novices’ Hurdle at Fairyhouse back in April.
Finally, the card comes to a close at 3.45 as a field of 11 head to post for the two mile handicap chase for horses aged five and older. Preference here heads the way of Mclaurey for the Emmet Mullins yard, last in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham but got back on track over fences when third of 13 last time out at Fairyhouse and looks to be a bit ahead of his chasing mark.
12.43 - Future Prospect
1.13 - Cumberland River
1.43 - Sortudo
2.13 - Hartford
2.43 - Kurasso Blue
3.13 - Karamoja
3.45 - Mclaurey
