Sams Profile
Battleoverdoyen further enhanced his burgeoning reputation with an impressive performance to win the Grade 1 Lawlor's of Naas Novices' Hurdle, but Sams Profile put up a really good performance to chase him home.
Prominent from early, Mouse Morris' horse made a significant mistake at the fourth last flight, where he lost ground and momentum just when he needed to maintain his position. He was crowded out of it a bit too at the top of the home straight but, switched towards the near side by Bryan Cooper, he stayed on strongly from the second last flight. It never really looked like he was going to get to the winner, but he stayed on all the way to the line to finish a fine second, two lengths clear of Getareason in third.
The race may not have been as strong as it looked beforehand, with Commander Of Fleet coming out of the race and with both Tornado Flyer and Come To Me under-performing, but Battleoverdoyen is a highly talented and progressive individual, unbeaten now in four runs, and the winning time wasn't bad. This was just Sams Profile's third run over hurdles, and he is still only five, so he has lots of potential for progression. From the family of Synchronised, he finished second in a three-mile hurdle at Cork in early December in a race that has worked out really well, so he should be effective over three miles, but he is not devoid of pace. This intermediate trip could be his optimum for now. And it is interesting that Mouse Morris and owner Michael O'Flynn won this race in 2008 with Venalmar, who was beaten a neck by Fiveforthree in the Ballymore Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on his next run.
Naas, 6th January 2019
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