Navan, Saturday 11 July 2026 — Flat Tips on Good To Firm Ground

Navan, Saturday 11 July 2026 — Flat Tips on Good To Firm Ground

A sunny Saturday at Navan with the ground riding Good To Firm throughout. Seven races on the card, and three catch the eye for different reasons. The going will suit sharp, quick-actioned types, so pay attention to horses proven on a fast surface. M D O’Callaghan is the trainer to note at this track, returning an A/E of 1.09 from 111 runners, which tells you his horses run to form here and are rarely overpriced.

1:48 — Irish EBF Auction Series Maiden (6f, 18 runners)

Big field, six furlongs, and a host of unexposed juveniles. Maiden form at this age is notoriously hard to read, but Revelator Each-Way at 7/1 (Boyle Sports, Betfred, LiveScore Bet) is the value pick in an 18-runner field paying three places. His debut seventh tells you almost nothing, but Josh Halley’s horses rarely debut in a blaze of publicity and this colt has the scope to improve sharply second time out. Eighteen runners at 7/1 on a track that regularly produces placed-race value at big prices gives you a solid each-way case at 1/5 the odds.

The market leader Just One Show (9/4) ran second on debut for Jack Foley and clearly caught plenty of eyes, but the yard is 0/1 in the last fortnight and that price looks short for a horse with a single run to its name. Eighteenth Smiles (14/1) has three runs of 5-5-5 for Joseph O’Brien, who is striking at a decent clip recently (13/63), but the form is modest and three consecutive fifths suggest this 6f trip may be stretching him on quick ground.

4:07 — Irish Stallion Farms EBF Race (1m2f, 5 runners)

South Island is the selection at 3/1 (Boyle Sports, Betfred, LiveScore Bet). The Donnacha O’Brien-trained colt tops the form figures with a 100 official rating and a strong speed number to back it up, and he is proven at a mile and two furlongs. Yes, he has won only once in his last five outings, and 49 days off is worth a small query, but the figures put him a clear notch above everything else in a five-runner field. Donnacha O’Brien lands 16% of his winners at Navan with an A/E of 0.88, so the stable hits the board here at a fair clip.

Summer Is Tomorrow (13/8) for Joseph O’Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle is the one most punters will follow given the market position, and a runner-up finish last time is eye-catching. But the ninth two starts back is hard to forget, and his overall record of zero wins in five runs flags up a horse that keeps finding one too good. At 13/8 there is not enough margin for error. Confused (2/1) won last time out but sits at the bottom of the form ratings for this five, making the odds a little flattering for a gelding who has had only two career runs.

4:40 — Navan Handicap (1m2f, 11 runners)

Genoah Each-Way at 9/4 (Boyle Sports, Betfred) or 2/1 (LiveScore Bet) is the standout of the day. The M D O’Callaghan-trained five-year-old tops this field of 11 on the figures, sits well clear of his 77 official mark, and has two wins from his last five starts. Crucially, a promising second last time out suggests the yard has him cherry ripe, and O’Callaghan’s Navan A/E of 1.09 from 111 runners is the mark of a trainer who absolutely fires at this track. He is proven on Good To Firm, proven at a mile and two furlongs, and the handicapper has not yet fully caught up with his progression.

The each-way case is real in an 11-runner handicap paying three places. If you want to be aggressive, a win single is justified at this price. Either way, Genoah is the banker of the card.

Sonoran (5/1) for G M Lyons tops the figures in second place, but the yard has mustered only one winner from 20 runners in the last fortnight, which is a cold spell that is hard to ignore in a competitive handicap. Lady Chartwell (50/1) is massively overpriced according to the figures, rated 81 versus a 69 official mark, but three consecutive unplaced efforts suggest there is a reason the market ignores her. Not worth the risk.

Today’s NAP

Genoah — Navan Handicap (4:40, Navan)
Odds: 9/4 — Boyle Sports (others: 9/4 Betfred, 2/1 LiveScore Bet)

Genoah heads the form figures in this 11-runner handicap, sits well clear of his official mark, and ran a career-best second last time out. M D O’Callaghan is the trainer who hits at a profitable A/E of 1.09 at Navan specifically, this horse is proven on Good To Firm, and the handicapper looks to have given him a workable weight. The angle is straightforward: a horse who is improving, trained by a man who knows this track, carrying a mark the figures suggest he can beat.

Each-Way Recommended — 3 places at 1/5 odds