Naas, Sunday 17 May 2026, Good Ground: Three Races Worth Your Money

Naas, Sunday 17 May 2026, Good Ground: Three Races Worth Your Money

A sharp card at Naas today with three Pattern and Listed races headlining. Good ground across the board suits a number of angles, and there is genuine value lurking behind the market leaders in each contest. Here is where the money should go.

3:56 Owenstown Stud Stakes (Listed, 7f)

Selection: Native Warrior (5/2, Boyle Sports/Betfred)

This is the race of the afternoon for value hunters. Karl Burke’s five-year-old is a gelding who genuinely found himself last season once the visor went on, and the subsequent results speak for themselves. Three handicap wins, culminating in the Ascot Challenge Cup over this exact trip on soft, confirmed he had turned a corner. His seasonal return in a Saint-Cloud Group 3 over a mile on soft was an excellent effort in defeat, finishing a close runner-up in a proper race. That mile run tells you he is fit, tuned up, and ready to perform.

The step back to seven furlongs on good ground is the key angle here. Burke’s yard has 4 winners from 44 runners over the last 14 days, which is modest, but Jamie Spencer on board is a significant pointer. Spencer does not take long trips to Naas for nothing. The RPR of 118 makes him top-rated in this field, and at 5/2 he is overpriced given the form he brings. East Hampton ran a career best against Diego Velazquez at the Curragh and must be respected, but he runs well fresh and may not improve dramatically from his comeback. Expanded has Ryan Moore but his form reads /996-2, and that slash at the start of that string is not encouraging. Native Warrior is the one.

4:26 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint Stakes (Group 3, 6f)

Selection: Victorious (5/6, Betfred/LiveScore Bet)

Aidan O’Brien’s juveniles improving from debut to second run is one of the most reliable patterns in European racing, and Victorious ticks every box. The Wootton Bassett filly won a C&D maiden, showing a smart turn of foot to put 1.75 lengths into Aedhmar. The significance of that form is critical: Aedhmar was only a neck behind Velozee at Cork, and Velozee is the 9/4 market rival here. If Victorious beat the horse who nearly beat Velozee by nearly two lengths, the price logic for the Aidan O’Brien filly is clear. O’Brien is 14 from 55 in the last 14 days, Ryan Moore retains the ride, and the six furlong trip at Naas on good ground is exactly what this filly wants on breeding.

Vollering, the British raider from Archie Watson’s yard, is worth a mention. She won with authority at Redcar by 2.5 lengths, Sioux Nation speed over five furlongs on good to firm, and six furlongs here should not be a problem. Watson’s strike rate over the fortnight is modest at 2/16, and making the trip from Britain to take on Ballydoyle at Group 3 level is a tough ask. Take the favourite at odds-on, she looks the class act.

4:56 Goffs Lacken Stakes (Group 3, 6f)

Selection: Royal Bay Cen (7/2, Boyle Sports/Betfred/LiveScore Bet)

Charles Darwin is odds-on and entirely worthy of favouritism. Norfolk Stakes winner, four consecutive wins, Group 1 entries at Ascot, Ryan Moore. The form is there. But at 4/6, you are paying for certainty in a race that might not be so certain.

Royal Bay Cen offers a genuine alternative at 7/2. The JP Murtagh filly was dual winner in France at two, posted some solid Pattern performances, and then arrived in Ireland for her stable debut at Cork and absolutely pulverised seven rivals by nine lengths over 5.5 furlongs on soft. Nine lengths. That is not a result you set aside easily. The concern is whether that soft ground form translates to today’s good, and the Spotlight notes this explicitly. On good ground in France she was fine, and today’s conditions are not the major obstacle some might suggest.

Havana Anna, unpenalised and top-rated at RPR 122, is fascinating. She chased home True Love in the Cheveley Park Group 1 and was a nose behind in a Longchamp Group 3 over the minimum trip. She lacks a run, however, and that is a genuine risk against fit rivals in a six-furlong Group 3. Kindergarten was only 1.75 lengths behind Charles Darwin at Navan on her return, though the weight turnaround now goes against her.

Royal Bay Cen at 7/2 is the value play. If she reproduces even 80 percent of that Cork performance on better ground, she is right in this.

Today’s NAP