NEVER GO AGAINST O’BRIEN
UNLESS ground conditions deteriorate significantly, Never No More should stamp his class on the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Legacy Stakes, one of three listed events on tomorrow’s Irish Cesarewitch card in Navan.
The Aidan O’brientrained No Nay Never colt shaped with plenty of promise when runner-up to his experienced and better-fancied stable-companion ALL THE KING’S MEN in Naas, a rivalry which will be renewed in tomorrow’s contest.
Since then, All the King’s Men disappointed when fifth to Lethal Promise in a listed event at Fairyhouse.
But, as expected, Never No More showed the benefit of Seamus Heffernan’s kind handling on his debut, scoring at Dundalk last Friday when his rider Donnacha O’brien admitted being impressed by the manner of the colt’s fluent, three and a quarter lengths defeat of Chicago May, describing the Ballydoyle colt as a “smart, fast colt”.
Expected to step forward again from that outing on the polytrack, Never No More will race beyond five furlongs for the first time tomorrow (an extra 164 yards) but, if the ground remains at least good, his speed and class should prove crucial.
Although LOST TREASURE’S run in the Group 1 Abbaye in Longchamp last week might be flattering – it earned a 22lb hike in the ratings – anything close to a reproduction of the effort would make him tough to beat in the listed Waterford Testimonial Stakes.
A narrow winner at Dundalk just two weeks ago (when rated 87), he came from the rear of the field in the Abbaye and, denied a clear run in the last 100 yards, came through to finish a creditable fifth, beaten less than a length, behind Mabs Cross.
Willie Mullins is mounting a strong assault on both the English Cesarewitch in Newmarket today and the Irish equivalent in Navan tomorrow.
And, of his six runners in tomorrow’s €100,000 Navan showpiece, I’ll take chance with NESSUN DORMA, which will be re-united with Billy Lee, a partnership which landed the valuable Guinness Handicap, on the Friday of the Galway Festival before falling, when held, in a handicap hurdle at Killarney.
Nessun Dorma is now 5lb higher than when scoring in Galway, form boosted significantly by runner-up Princess Yaiza (a Group 2 winner in Longchamp last weekend) and Limini (successful in a premier handicap at Leopardstown and fancied for today’s English Cesarewitch).