HEAVY ground was a key factor for the Navan Racing Festival, the first day of the meeting postponed due to waterlogging, and plenty of the Gordon Elliott horses did well on it, especially in the blacktype races where he had three winners and two seconds from nine runners.

Found A Fifty can be inconsistent, though his run over three miles at Down Royal was forgivable, and he got back on track to win a second Fortria Chase, albeit fortunately as the runner-up Dinoblue shaped best on the day.

She made a bad mistake at the fourth and put in several slow jumps afterwards that saw her drop to the rear of the field, but she was still able to close behind the leaders going well two out where she landed awkwardly, doing well to be beaten five lengths in the circumstances.

Elliott can perhaps count himself a little unlucky not to win both graded novice hurdles at the meeting and deserves credit for switching around the trips for two of his better novices from Down Royal, stepping Kalypso’chance up in distance in the Monksfield Hurdle while bringing Theflyingking down to two miles in the For Auction.

Jumped better

Kalypso’chance jumped better than at Down Royal, though there is still room for improvement in that area, and showed a tough attitude to fend off the strong staying The Big Clubman though the same could not be said of Theflyingking.

He travelled marginally the best between the final two in the For Auction and hit the front at the last but looked awkward while hanging and has a bit to prove regarding his willingness in a finish.

A few runners in the Coolmore NH Sires Hurricane Lane Irish EBF Mares INH Flat Race seemed not to handle the ground, notably Easter Bonnet, but even so Oldschool Outlaw ran out an impressive winner, pulling clear of the runner-up who was in turn eight lengths ahead of the third.

The winner had looked a strong stayer when trained by Garry Caldwell, the type of mare that fits well with her new trainer.

Disappointment

Not every Elliott horse performed in the graded races with The Yellow Clay a disappointment in the Lismullen Hurdle but there were extenuating circumstances, and it might be worth forgiving this run.

He was off a break against race fit opponents and paid for racing close to an overly strong pace, comparative sectional times with other hurdle races on the card suggesting Paul Townend went too hard in front on Jetara.

Furthermore, the ground was on the slow side for him. Elliott has spent most of the first three years of his career saying he wants decent ground, and while he won a Grade 1 at Naas in January on soft, few of his rivals ran to form that day.

His narrow Cheltenham defeat behind The New Lion on good-to-soft looks his best run by a fair way and he can get back on track on a sounder surface.

Elliott also had a couple of eye-catchers in the handicap hurdles that are worth following. Gringo d’Aubrelle has been hard to train, a nine-year-old with only 11 runs, but he shaped well when fifth in the Tara Handicap Hurdle, finishing well from off the pace having travelled well.

He was a decent novice hurdler and while not at that level now, his mark reflects that, and this run suggests some ability remains.

San Hilario was a show gamble in the two-mile handicap hurdle on Monday’s rescheduled card, backed from 12/1 to 6/1, and he seemed to lack sharpness on handicap debut returning from an absence. Having looked in trouble leaving the back straight, he rallied down the inner in the straight before flattening out late and this run should bring him on with fitness and handicap experience.

He caught the eye on his previous run at Gowran, his third start over hurdles, in a maiden hurdle that worked out quite well and he looks reasonably treated.

THE weekend feature, the Bar One Racing Troytown Handicap Chase, went to Answer To Kayf and it was fine training performance from Terence O’Brien to have him ready after a 197-day absence in a race that often favours fitness.

Of the last 20 winners of the Troytown, only three were returning from an absence of more than two months.

Answer To Kayf made most of the running and jumped adequately but his success looked unlikely when he made a mistake four out that caused him to lose position. From there, he rallied well despite racing down the inner which is often unfavoured, bringing his record on soft or worse going to an excellent:1231411.

The pace in the Troytown was decent, but even so few got involved from behind, the first three in the first four positions jumping the last first time around, and there were no major excuses in behind.

Will The Wise ran well in fourth without ever looking like winning though the Gavin Cromwell yard is in a lull now with one winner from 76 runners with 15 places since the start of November at the time of writing.

Both Ballybawn Belter and Sportinthepark seemed stretched by the trip having made moves in the straight while Quai De Bourbon was the biggest disappointment, pulled up after being well-backed late.

Paul Townend kept him wide, presumably to give him a good look at his fences after a pair of non-completions at Cheltenham and Aintree last spring, but while his jumping was fine, he was beaten leaving the back straight.

He is presumably better than this and didn’t really get a go at things last spring, while Willie Mullins tends to aim less at handicap chases this time of the year and more at the valuable Nationals later in the season.

WILLIE Mullins has been a relatively big player in the Navan November meetings recently, seven winners from 40 runners at the track during this month since 2020, but he has shown a willingness to start a good novice chase prospect here lately with both Facile Vega and Fact To File having their first start over fences here in 2023.

Navan provides a good test of jumping while the timing sits well for Christmas, but most importantly the ground came right, and it allowed what would appear to be his two best novice chase prospects of this season, Final Demand and Kopek Des Bordes, to making winning starts.

Their respective races unfolded similarly as both were given unpestered leads, allowed to set steady fractions before finishing quickly; Kopek Des Bordes, for instance, got from the first to four out nine seconds slower than the runners in the Fortria Chase when considering them over the same part of the course, and from there was 3.2 seconds faster to the line while it was a similar story when Final Demand was compared with the Troytown.

Both jumped well for chase debutants, Final Demand settling well and Kopek Des Bordes going with his trademark keenness and should be hard to beat in the near-term.