There may be more than five months to Cheltenham but Silver Concorde can take the first steps back to festival success when he lines up at Navan today.
Winner of the Champion Bumper last March, Silver Concorde is already a 10/1 co-favourite to follow up in the 2015 Supreme Novices Hurdle, a position he shares with Shaneshill, the horse he beat at Cheltenham and subsequently gave best to at Punchestown.
This afternoon’s two-mile maiden has teed up notable jumps campaigns in the past, notably Hardy Eustace a decade ago. And the flat is what Silver Concorde was bred for so it will be a surprise if he doesn’t come out on top.
Navan’s midweek flat meetings at this time of year may not attract many spectators, but further afield they are pored over with the juvenile maidens possessing a solid record of throwing up future Group One stars.
This year’s Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine won the mile fillies maiden here last year and Ballydoyle throws a trio of regally bred runners that will do well to get the better of Bocca Bacita who should appreciate a step up in trip.
Kingsbarns (2012) and Soldier Of Fortune (2006) are among those to have landed the colts maiden and Aidan O'Brien's apparent number one, Giovanni Canaletto, holds a Dewhurst entry next week. So too though does Jim Bolger's McGuigan.
The O'Brien team can score with Bazaar in the 10-furlong handicap and Felix Mendelssohn who started favourite on his sole start in May.
