LAGUNA READY 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 appears to hold 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 looked to have learned plenty from her Killarney chasing bow as she sauntered around Limerick to score 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 and exuberance. If she is growing up mentally, she could establish herself as a highly useful race mare for a stable which excels with producing that type of model. Later, renowned owner 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.