Paul Townend: Ha D’or has big shout at Naas
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Ladbrokes ambassador Paul Townend takes us through his six rides at Fairyhouse and Naas this weekend.
Saturday
She was disappointing the last day, beaten a long way by Icare Allen in Leopardstown. She will improve a hell of a lot for the run there, but she will have a lot to find with a few of them. She’s getting weight from them so that will make it a bit easier, but this is a retrieval mission.
We had a nice run in Tramore behind Al Boum Photo and conditions of this race suit him really well. I think he will be my best ride of the two on Saturday. I will be disappointed if he doesn’t go very close.
Sunday
It’s a small but competitive field. Lots are closely matched on ratings. Cash Back has been keeping good company throughout his career and he’s not overly raced for a 10-year-old.
Things didn’t go his way at Leopardstown the last day behind Chacun Pour Soi and it’s calmer waters here. He’s also a course and distance winner which is another positive.
He was impressive the last day and I think he can build on that again. It’s a competitive race, with the likes of Flame Bearer who I know Pat and Jack Doyle think a lot of. There’s a couple of winners in here as you’d expect but I think there’s more to come from Ha D’or and I give him a real solid shout.
Micro Manage can only be described as frustrating. He hasn’t lost his maiden tag yet and he was beaten by Flame Bearer the last day at Fairyhouse. If he can run to that level again I think it could be his day, but at this stage though, he’s a hard horse to trust. He’s doing nothing wrong, he just manages to find one too good for him.
This horse is a French recruit. He’s had three runs there and was a winner of two. He shouldn’t have any trouble handling the ground as he won on heavy in France. He has schooled well and this looks an nice opportunity to star over hurdles.
