Racing tips: Odds-on shot at Naas looks far too short

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I literally have no words for the selection in the Imperial Cup yesterday. He was off the bridle down the back straight, and was in trouble a long way from home, eventually being pulled up. There must've been something amiss, as that was a horrendous performance. 

Naas 4:05

It's nice to see Sunday's getting some decent racing. Ireland more often than not will put on a few graded races on most Sunday's, which makes the end of the week all that bit better, as we can get our teeth stuck into some good action. The race which caught my eye is the Grade 3 contest at Naas, headed by Jeremys Flame at the top of the market. She is a consistent horse, as you can tell by the numbers next to her form, but to say she warrants being an odds-on shot in this race, I'm not totally convinced. I'm taking her on with LIFETIME AMBITION, who will need to bounce back to form if he wants to win this, but I can see why that is possible.

The selection ran a blinder on chase debut earlier in the season, jumping with accuracy and zest. The form of that race looks good, with the runner-up winning a Grade 1 since, and finishing a very close 2nd in a Grade 2 whilst giving away 7lbs to the winner. Vanillier, the Albert Bartlett winner of 2021, was back in 3rd, and even though that horse hasn't become a convincing chaser, he is still a classy horse and was put to bed with ease by the selection. Since then, Lifetime Ambition has been rather poor. He under-performed quite badly the time after, when he couldn't confirm the form with Beacon Edge, but I think he is better suited on soft ground, so the quick ground that day could've been the problem. He was then tried over 2m, being beaten by one of the leading fancies for the Arkle, Blue Lord, which is no disgrace over a trip which is far too short. The time after he was heavily beat in a tough contest, won by Bob Olinger. I think the key to this horse is soft ground, intermediate trip (2m 4f) and running on the back of a solid break, and he gets all three. Robbie Power gets on board for the first time since he has started chasing, which can only be seen as a positive in my eyes. This race doesn't seem all that competitive, with the favourite being the main danger, but she is normally kept to mares' only races, so there is a chance she'll struggle against the boys.

If the selection repeats his run from his chase debut, he'll be tough to beat. If an easy lead is possible, I would like Robbie to take the initiative, as he does like to run from the front. However, I don't think that scenario is likely, with at least another pace angle being in the race.

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