Naas Town Goes Racing this weekend
Naas Racecourse will host their latest Summer BBQ fixture as Naas Town Goes Racing for a seven race card on Saturday afternoon.
An action-packed day at the Kildare venue will see the Ger Lyons-trained Affogato seek to complete a hat-trick in the Care At Home Services Race over seven-furlongs.
The three-year-old son of Requinto held on gamely to win at Gowran Park in April before running out a very impressive winner at Fairyhouse last time out but could potentially face another hat-trick seeker in the form of Ken Condon’s Warren Beach.
Curragh-based Condon is planning to have a number of possible runners at Naas on Saturday as Warren Beach bids to supplement recent victories at Gowran Park and Listowel.
Condon said: "The application of blinkers has really done the trick with Warren Beach and he’s beginning to show on the track what we had been seeing at home, particularly as a two-year-old.
"This year, he was shaping up like he needed a trip but it turns out he doesn’t, he was just being a bit lazy. The blinkers have just helped him concentrate and he won his maiden impressively at Gowran Park and then followed up with a gutsy, battling performance when winning at Listowel.
"I think he might be a miler but it’s a stiff seven furlongs at Naas so that should be okay and suit him. We’re just taking it step by step with him now and this is the next obvious step for him but we hope he might make into a stakes horse."
Race sponsors Care At Home Services will mark their sponsorship on Saturday with a competition to win a barbecue worth €550. You can enter online now at https://naasracecourse.com/
The feature on Saturday’s card will be the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Handicap for which the Joseph O’Brien-trained Camdeboo and Eamonn O’Connell’s Shelly Banks head the weights.
The €23,500 contest has also attracted some interesting three-year-olds including Belle Fourche and course-and-distance winner Radiyka, both trained nearby on The Curragh by Michael O’Callaghan and Dermot Weld respectively.
Ken Condon will also run the three-year-old Areille, a winner at Fairyhouse on her penultimate start.
"Areille will run in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies’ Handicap. She won a handicap at Fairyhouse at the beginning of the month and then ran well again when a good third at Naas last week off her revised mark," Condon said.
"She’s a filly that enjoy the good ground we’re getting now. I know there has been a bit of an ease but the forecast is good at the end of the week and she will take her chance unless it gets very soft or heavy, because she’s in good form right now."
As well as the Summer BBQ at Naas on Saturday, live music after racing will come courtesy of Jason Fallon and there will be plenty of free kids’ activities throughout the day, including face painting, reptile zoo, magic show and more.
Saturday’s most valuable race is the opening Irish EBF Median Sires Series Race for juveniles in which Moone trainer Jessica Harrington will be hoping that Keepupwithmyempire can go a couple of places better than his debut at the track in early May. Harrington has also included the consistent Polar Bear, while Curragh maiden runner-up Victoria Road is Aidan O’Brien’s representative.
Ken Condon’s Paulliac outran his odds at Tipperary last time when fourth at 80/1 and the trainer commented today: "Paulliac is a bit of a slow burner and we were very pleased with his run in Tipperary when he was fourth. He had come forward very well from his first run and we think he has improved again.
"You have to be patient sometimes to be rewarded in the longer term, depending on the horse, and hopefully it will pay off with Paulliac. He worked this morning and looks like he’s come forward again so he’s ready to run.
"That may well be at Naas but we will just wait and see how the weights come out first before making a final decision on that."
During the afternoon, the Paddy Power League Of Ireland Mascot Race in aid of Grow Ireland will take place featuring 10 mascots from League of Ireland football clubs throughout the country for the highly coveted bragging rights.
The first race on Saturday is due off at 2pm and hospitality packages are available from €45.
