NAP of the Day: Oh Cecelia to break Cork rivals’ hearts

Four meetings across Britain and Ireland to sink our teeth into on Sunday and it's Cork's card that draws the eye.

Our NAP of the Day runs in the Listed sprint towards the front of the card. He should prove very difficult to beat.

A field of nine has been declared for this €50,000 race and Ken Condon’s OH CECELIA gets the nod. She has already been pretty busy in 2026, having already had six starts since the turn of the year. The three-year-old gets all the allowances and can take full advantage.

Previous connections clearly thought a lot of her as a juvenile, off the back of her comfortable victory in a course and distance maiden last May, as they decided to send her to Royal Ascot for the Albany Stakes, although she failed to fire on that occasion.

She returned to winning ways in handicap company at Naas in March and she coped well with soft ground on that occasion. Another course and distance success was still to come and she landed a rated race here in April by a very comfortable margin.

Admittedly her below-par display in a Listed contest here last month was a bit of a head-scratcher but she left that behind her when running a blinder behind Havana Anna in the Group 3 Lacken Stakes. That form makes her very hard to oppose here.

Horse Racing Odds

In terms of dangers, Edward Lynam’s Keke has taken a step forward this year and he ran very well to finish third behind Aidan O’Brien’s King Charles III Stakes candidate Mission Central in a Listed race at Naas last time out. He shouldn’t be dismissed on that evidence.

Gazelle d’Or was second in that race and she was a short head behind the winner over 6f at Fairyhouse after that. Colin Keane has been booked for the ride on her and that bodes well for another big run.

Kendall Roy is a course and distance winner but has been out of form.

Oh Cecelia is clearly the one to beat on the evidence of her most recent performance and it’ll be disappointing if the three-year-old fails to get the job done.

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