LAGUNA SET TO MAKE WAVES

NAAS comes to the rescue of racing fans today and PRAVALAGUNA (Naas, 2.10) could prove one of the star acts on a competitive card. Trainer Willie Mullins has landed the Listed Mares’ Chase twice in three years with Benie Des Dieux and Gitane Du Berlais, and holds a strong chance of completing a hat-trick. The daughter of Great Pretender, herself a winner of a Listed event in her native France, Pravalaguna learned plenty from her Killarney chasing bow as she sauntered around Limerick comfortably. The decision to allow her to stride on that day looked to be the catalyst for a more polished and professional performance from a mare that had previously wanted to do everything with haste. If she is growing up mentally, she could become a highly useful race mare for a stable which excels with producing similar models. JP McManus will have the first opportunity to see if his sizeable investment in procuring KONITHO (Naas, 2.40) was money well spent when the French recruit bids to repeat his victory here of a fortnight ago. Sir Erec and Fakir D’Oudairies are star Joseph O’Brien-trained juveniles fancied for the Cheltenham Festival and Konitho could book his ticket with another authoritative display.