Navan
When
I awoke on Friday morning I was anxious to establish the state of the weekend
fixtures. With so much rain all three Irish meetings were in jeopardy. The 8am
inspections at Naas (for Sunday) and Limerick (Saturday) confirmed my fears.
Both had been called-off because of the dreadful ground. We’d earmarked Limerick
as a back-up plan should the other meeting, Navan, fall to the weather.
Although we were staying in Dublin, it would have been feasible to race at
Limerick thanks to a regular direct train service from Heuston.
Navan
was due to inspect at 2pm. I was on my Heathrow flight to Dublin while this was
happening. As soon as I landed my phone’s Twitter feed gave me the good news:
it was on! Not a wasted journey.
At
the Harding hotel the manager had taken on board my displeasure of being moved
to the Handel hotel the last time I “stayed” here. I had been compensated with
a huge room on the fifth floor. Well done Jonathan!
Navan Sor-ted
7th April 2018: admission charges 15 euro (10
euro seniors/students) < 18s free
There is no train station at Navan. The only way to
get there on public transport is a bus which takes an hour from Dublin to the
town centre. There is an “express” service (NX), which appears to take the same
time as the 109 does from Busaras. In any
event the NX we'd planned to catch had inexplicably been cancelled. So,
it was the 109 and then a taxi for the remaining four miles to the track.
We arrived about an hour before racing to a very quiet place. Even as the first approached it was
not busy. Surprising
perhaps
with Limerick off.
I’d not been here since 2011 however the facilities
had improved since then, a comfortable café run by Bewley’s was a new feature
we enjoyed.
Having studied the card, the night before, we had
one horse in mind for the 5f handicap. This was Sors who we’d backed on his
seasonal reappearance at Naas a couple of weeks earlier. He’d run credibly that
day from a high draw when those closest to the far rail (low) seemed to have an
advantage. Here he was drawn one, potentially against the far rail. He remained
very well handicapped on his best form.
Before the Sors’ race there was a non-handicap over
the same trip. I backed two in this race including the heavily backed Urban
Beat from the Murtagh stable. The money proved to be inspired, double figures
early it was returned 7/2. I thought the tote might pay bigger so I was very
disappointed with my 4.40 dividend!
Urban
Beat winning for Shane Foley/JP Murtagh
In the first they appeared to favour racing towards
the far side so that augured well for our “nap” in the next which also featured
ten runners.
In the paddock Sors looked cool
ahead of his ordeal
It all turned out rather nicely as Sors raced
prominently by the far rail and won comfortably at 11/2 (8.00 on tote).
I topped up with an Exacta
combo on horses drawn 1-2-3. The finishing (draw) order was 1-3-9-2. The Exacta
paid 81.80 against the CSF of 47.88.
The Sors’ team celebrating: Andrew Slattery x 2
A terrific start to the afternoon but that’s where it ended from a
punting perspective with the following five races drawing a blank including losing
jackpot and trifecta combinations.
A winning day though thanks to Sors.
After racing it was a taxi ride into Navan and a few pints at the BRU
House (see my Trip Advisor review - by “Mike Punter”).
Sunday was a no betting/racing day and a chance to explore Dublin again.
I’d definitely recommend a visit to the National Gallery. This was
fully re-opened last summer following a seven-year refurbishment plan.
A quite
remarkable place now – if you’ve not been before take one of the frequent free
tours of the collection. My highlight? The Jack Yeats’ room.
Later it was Searson’s Jazz featuring Felim Gormley (of The Commitments
fame) to bring the weekend to a close.
Galway Festival next…
April 2018