Naas, Wednesday 22 July 2026 — Tips & Selections

Naas, Wednesday 22 July 2026 — Tips & Selections

Good ground at Naas on a Wednesday evening card that punches well above its weight, with two Listed contests bookending a maiden that has all the hallmarks of an Aidan O’Brien trial. Glorious Goodwood is now less than a week away, and you can feel the form sharpening across the Irish yards as connections eye up their travel plans. Three races stand out as betting propositions tonight.

5:30 — Matchbook Exchange Irish EBF Maiden (6f, Good)

Eighteen runners in a juvenile maiden at 6f on good ground is fertile territory for a big yard sending out a well-fancied debutant, and O’Brien’s Man’s Best Friend (Wayne Lordan, 15/8 Betfred) is the one the market has latched onto. A fourth on debut suggests he has already learned something, and Lordan getting the leg-up over the stable’s other entry here is a clear signal from the yard about which one they fancy.

The value call, though, is Muscogee Nation Each-Way (Dylan Browne McMonagle, 11/2 Boyle Sports) for Mick O’Callaghan, a yard that has sent out three winners from eighteen runners in the last fortnight. McMonagle is one of the sharpest young jockeys in Ireland and does not climb aboard a fancied debutant without good reason. In an 18-runner field paying three places at 1/5 odds, the each-way case at 11/2 is straightforward.

Selection: Muscogee Nation (e/w) — 11/2 Boyle Sports

6:30 — Arqana Irish EBF Marwell Stakes (Listed, 5f, Good)

Ten fillies, Listed prize money, and one runner that sits a clear 9lb clear of the next-best on the figures. Concorde Landed (W J Lee, 5/6 Boyle Sports) is the form pick and the likely winner, rated 110 by our analysis with a solid speed figure behind her debut success. The P Twomey yard is ticking over with two winners from nine runners in the last 14 days, nothing spectacular but far from cold. A 5f Listed race on good ground in summer suits a lightly raced speedster, and the book on this filly reads like a horse being aimed squarely at this target.

The one watch-out is Shimmering Sun (Dylan Browne McMonagle, 5/2 Boyle Sports) for Harry Eustace, rated 101 here. She won two starts back and the seventh last time out might be more forgettable than it looks. At 5/2 she is a legitimate each-way alternative, but Concorde Landed’s ratings edge is significant enough to make her the play at odds-on in a ten-runner race.

Selection: Concorde Landed — 5/6 Boyle Sports

7:00 — Yeomanstown Stud Irish EBF Stakes (Listed, 6f, Good)

Soul Love (Pierre-Louis Jamin, 6/4 Boyle Sports) for K.R. Burke is the stand-out name on the card tonight. Burke’s course record at Naas is exceptional, 31% strike rate from 13 runners with an A/E of 1.68, meaning his horses here consistently outperform their market positions. That alone tilts the ledger before you even look at the form.

And the form is good. Soul Love tops the field on our figures at 107, winning three of her last five starts with the only blemish being a ninth three runs ago that she has since bounced back from emphatically. A third last time out in what is likely tougher Listed company represents no disgrace, and the step back to 6f on good ground at Naas suits her profile. Jamin has been riding with confidence in the UK and Ireland this season, and Burke does not haul a filly across the water for a Listed race without believing she can win it.

Fregada (Ronan Whelan, 8/1 Boyle Sports) holds the second-highest rating in the field at 102 and is worth noting for the each-way market at that price, but the winless sequence stretching back through her recent starts makes her difficult to fully trust. Chantez for G.M. Lyons represents the trainer’s best hopes on an otherwise modest recent run of form, but 16/1 reflects the limitations of her record.

Selection: Soul Love — 6/4 Boyle Sports

Today’s NAP

Soul Love — Yeomanstown Stud Irish EBF Stakes (19:00, Naas)
Odds: 6/4 — Boyle Sports (others: 11/8 Betfred, 5/4 LiveScore Bet)

K.R. Burke’s 31% course strike rate at Naas is the kind of trainer angle you cannot ignore, and Soul Love is the top-rated runner in a 15-runner Listed field at 107. Three wins from her last five starts, a tough yard, and good ground at a track where the trainer genuinely overperforms. At 6/4 you are not getting a gift, but you are getting a genuine favourite who deserves to be one.