A FIELD of 16 horses will line up tomorrow at Naas for the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Final, the culmination of a season-long series which has received universal praise throughout the industry.

Runners in tomorrow’s final have already collected a combined €145,235 from the series and that is set to rise to over €250,000 with €120,000 up for grabs (€70,800 for the winner).

The Final features eight individual winners from the series and there is the added benefit that every race in the series is a part of the Plus 10 scheme (four winners were registered and earned an extra €10,000 on top of their prize money).

To qualify for the final horses had to be EBF registered, have been bought as yearlings or two-year-olds for no more than €72,000 at public auction and then run in any one of the 20 races in the series this season.

The Broghie Man, trained by Brendan Duke, has yet to win this season but has run to a good standard on each of his four starts, which included a fourth to Snazzy Jazzy in the valuable Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes at the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend.

“The series is fantastic and Foran Equine and Irish EBF must be commended, some of the winners of the qualifiers only cost €2,500,” Duke said. “It gives the small trainer and owner something to look forward to and a really good prize at the end of the rainbow.

“The Broghie Man has won €26,500 and he cost €7,000. It has always been the plan to qualify him for the final and he will be difficult to beat over seven furlongs at Naas.”

On his previous run, which came at Naas, The Broghie Man finished third to the Thomas Mullins-trained €2,500 purchase Powersville, who has been one of the biggest success stories of the series having won two races and accumulated over €40,000 through prize money and the Plus 10 scheme.

Elsewhere, Ger Lyons appears to have a strong hand with Ball Girl who cost just €3,500 at the Goffs Sportsman Sale last September. The daughter of Tagula disappointed on her latest run but sets a decent standard after her third in the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh where she took on colts including subsequent Group 1 Middle Park Stakes scorer U S Navy Flag.

Spiorad Saoirse (cost €34,000) and Quizical (€9,000) have been closely matched this season and, after meeting at Galway and Listowel, the score between the pair is 1-1. On his most recent run, Spiorad Saoirse was a little disappointing when finishing eighth behind the aforementioned Powersville, but Slattery is hopeful of a better run tomorrow.

“I think he’ll run well,” he said. “He ran over six furlongs the last day and it was a bit short for him. I think the extra furlong will suit him better. The Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Series is a great incentive, it makes it easier to get an owner. It gives trainers like us a great chance.”

Quizical has progressed with each run this season for Sheila Lavery and is now rated 90. Lavery has targeted the son of Roderic O’Connor at this race since his Listowel run and the Meath trainer is a big fan of the series.

“It can be a great payday for those inexpensive horses and it gives the smaller yards a chance,” she said. “Sevenleft won it the first year for us and we went home with over with €45,000, it was better than winning a group race.”

Other runners to note are Noel Meade’s recent Dundalk scorer Cocohulababy (5,000gns) and Patrick Prendergast’s Red Persian (€5,000), who has already earned over €30,000 from races in the series.