decent two-year-olds at Navan?

The most interesting flat races today could be the two mile events for 2yo maidens at Navan in Ireland. Aidan O´Brien has two runners in both the colts race at 17.05 CET and the fillies race half an hour later. All 4 are by Galileo and can be expected to run well. In the earlier race his candidates Finn McCool (Seamus Heffernan) and Kingsbarns (Joseph O´Brien) are apparently highly regarded and could well take the first 2 places; although Joseph rides the latter, the former, extremely well bred, could be the one. The O´Brien fillies are Moth (Joseph O´Brien) and Say (Heffernan), but this race looks trickier, with a large field and possibly stronger opposition. However the Ballydoyle stable could strike here as well and complete a quick hat-trick with Exact (Joseph O´Brien) in the 3yo maiden at 18.05. LATER: Finn McCool non-runner!

At Nottingham, John Gosden holds a strong hand in the 10 furlongs handicap at 17.30 with his two well-bred and lightly-raced three-year-olds Sunpass (William Buick) and Falkland (Nicky Mackay) at the foot of the handicap. Buick has probably made the right choice as Sunpass was a very easy winner of an Epsom maiden 11 days ago and seems to have been given a very favourable weight for his handicap debut. Another recent winner who can follow up quickly is Danube River (Mark Johnston/ Michael Murphy) in the apprentice handicap half an hour later. Leading apprentice so far this season is Amy Ryan, and she can score for her father Kevin on Supreme Luxury, another last-time-out winner, who runs in the 3yo handicap at 17.00. LATER: Falkland non-runner!

There is also jumps racing today at Ludlow and Towvcester. At the former track, we expect Haymarket (John Ferguson/ Jack Quinlan) to take the 3yo hurdle at 15.10. The trainer is more likely to be at Newmarket, spending millions for Sheikh Mohammed at the sales, but this runner, who showed promise on his first outing over the sticks after constantly disappointing on the flat, should also bring him some satisfaction. We also like Coronea Lilly (Neil Mulholland/ Michael Byrne) in the mares novoice hurdle at 15.40. There are two German-breds running here in the 2 mile handicap hurdle at 16.40. Crazy Bold (Tony Carroll/ Lee Edwards) is a CD winner, but that was a long time ago and he is very inconsistent these days, so we prefer Irish-trained Schelm (Ronnie O´Leary/ Aidan Cawley); he is much better over fences, but is now extremely well handicapped over the sticks.

Tony McCoy is riding at Towcester, and we like Nick Gifford´s Christopher Wren in the beginners chase at 15.50 - where Hazy Tom (Charlie Longsdon/ Jason Maguire) is obviously the one to beat- and Dr. Richard Newland´s Royale Knight, an easy winner last Saturday, in the handicap chase at 17.50; this is however quite an open affair, and course specialist Marked Man (Richard Lee/ Jake Greenall), who won this race last year off a higher rating, is just one of several dangers.