Garnet Stakes Tips & Betting Preview

Race Time: 3.25pm Meeting: Naas Day: Sunday 18th October
Distance: 1m Full Race Name:  Clodovil European Breeders Fund Garnet Stakes (Listed Race) (Fillies & Mares)

No British entries here despite the impressive £30,000 or so prize fund, but some high class home talent all set to go to post over the mile, and a tough one to predict.

At the weights, the one to be on is David Wachman’s Hint of A Tint (11/2) who is rated three pounds clear of the rest of the field. Her first two runs this season saw handicap wins at Galway and The Curragh before she was caught out when stepped up in class at Tipperary when 48 lengths last in the Group Three Concorde Stakes after pulling way too hard for her own good and finishing virtually pulled up. If we ignore that run as seems sensible then she has decent enough chances here on her beating of Ascot winner Portage the race before, but it will take a very forgiving punter to risk too much on her in case she decides to repeat her Tipperary antics.

Assume (11/1) has been declared to run here (as well as everywhere else over the weekend), but looks as though tis is now her final target and as an unbeaten daughter of Fastnet Rock who cost 280,000 Euros at the sales, she ought to be up to this sort of class! A pretty much unexpected victory at Killarney could be seen as a bonus as she was on an educational run and with guaranteed improvement and her lofty price tag she is beginning to look like the one they all have to beat to us with one possible exception!

Jim Bolger’s Steip Amach (7/1) is next on our short list and has some reasonable placed form to her name but no wins since October last year which can’t be seen as good news to anyone. Three third places in nine races is a poor return for the daughter of Vocalised but she has been competing in better class so with the drip to Listed company here, all things are possible.

Tamadhor (6/1) has to be another to at least consider with Kevin Prendergast’s filly placing last time out when runner up to Akira at Cork, and even if the O’Brien filly re opposes, she is three pounds worse off for three quarters of a length. She has a win this season already but that was on a much faster surface and we are wary that she may need a better surface to be seen at her peak.

Lastly, it will be interesting to see if Dermot Weld allows Joailliere (11/4) to make her return this afternoon as she looked a filly of promise when taking her maiden at Gowran Park first time out by an easy seven lengths. She then took an immediate if over the top step up in class in the Irish 1000 Guineas when a respectable sixth to Pleascach but hasn’t been seen since which has to be a worry.  On that run alone we would rate her about 101 which would give her a shout today, and with improvement to come, she could yet get in to the mix.