12:47 Navan Tips

Cowper Hall has been placed in three of his six starts so far and was runner-up and only just held at Fairyhouse last time. The yard is not flying, but this one looks to be in here off a decent mark.

Harley Street was beaten two lengths in 3rd place off 91 when returning to hurdles at Wexford last time and he had some decent hurdle form in 2023 and 2024 when with J P O'Brien having been a winner on the flat with A P O'Brien in 2022.

My each way selection for this race is MARIE’S MARCH, a 6yo mare from the Sarah Connell yard who ran a stormer when third in a 19-runner 0-100 handicap hurdle over 2m at Naas on soft ground in March off a 3lb lower mark. She now returns in an almost identical scenario - a big-field 2m 0-100, this time on Navan’s heavy ground off an OR 92 with the hood back on and Darragh O’Keeffe reunited - and the stiff uphill finish looks tailor made for her proven stamina.

Party Pack is an appealing each-way play in the 2m handicap hurdle. Trained by JP Flavin, he's yet to break his maiden under rules, but he's shown signs of life recently. In August 2025, he finished 2nd of 14 at Wexford, and in October he ran 7th of 13 off a similar mark in Killarney. His rating suggests there could be more room to improve, especially in a big field handicap such as this one. Moreover, the ground is soft, and that could work in his favor - he's previously handled decent going in his handicap runs. Flavin's horses often improve with each run, and Party Pack looks like he's nearing a breakthrough. Not flashy, but solid, consistent, and potentially well-treated - he could be the sort of lightweight who comes good when others underestimate him.

7 a.m. inspection tells its own story, but I’ll back one on the off chance it goes ahead. The ‘heavy’ (currently waterlogged) is the key to what we’re looking at and looking for. Very few have form on it, and the ones that do, the form is weak. There are 6 places up for offer here, so looking at a rag is the percentage call. 50/1 with Paddy Power, Elusive Prince has something to offer, albeit his last 2 runs we need to find forgiveness (easy to do so over 2 clearly inadequate trips). This 6 y/o recently joined James Barcoe from HDB, where he had snippets of form off 108 and 110 (96 today) at the 2-mile mark. He does have a 3rd on heavy going on his CV from last year in one of his maidens. All that said, it’s a very risky selection, but they’ll probably swim home in Indian file, and it’s anyone’s guess in what order.