NAAS HOSTS a €100,000 Group Three Bank Holiday feature this afternoon and Cuis Ghaire can make it two wins from two starts for the Jim Bolger-Kevin Manning team. The Galileo filly is one of nine starters for the Cathal Ryan Memorial Swordlestown Stud Sprint Stakes which includes a cross-channel raider in Kevin Ryan's Haydock winner Undaunted Affair.
This six-furlong event has become a crucial Royal Ascot trial in recent years and the home team again appears strong with Cuis Ghaire looking to have the best credentials. She showed a lot of natural pace on her debut last month over this course and distance when beating Silver Shoon and Heart Shaped in a tight finish.
Both those fillies subsequently fought out another good finish at the Curragh to frank the form and the Ballydoyle runner, Empress Of France, has a lot of ground to make up from that Naas run.
Silver Shoon could emerge best of the opposition again as Dermot Weld attempts to break her maiden in a high-class event. But that plan may be spoiled by Cuis Ghaire.
Today's other black type event is the Listed Coolmore Choisir Sprint in which the English raider Tax Free goes for back-to-back wins.
The Dandy Nicholls-trained sprinter won on softer ground here last year but it did look a harder race with Dandy Man finishing a length behind and Desert Lord in third.
Tax Free has just over a length to make up on Contest from Cork running last month but is 3lb better off and may be better suited by the ground conditions than the Wachman runner.
