Improving Minds takes Naas feature

The Tommy Stack trained Great Minds recorded his second Listed success in-a-row as he took the feature at Naas this evening, the Woodlands Stakes.

The four-year-old son of Bahamian Bounty was beaten into fourth by Bubbly Bellini at the Curragh last month but he bounced back to form at Cork just over a week later as he took the Listed Cork Stakes.

Dropped in trip to five furlongs this evening he was backed on-course from 2/1 to 6/4, going off the clear favourite.

Settled in mid-division he was fourth after halfway and he was ridden to challenge from over a furlong out.

He swept to the front inside the final furlong and he kept on well under pressure to score by three parts of a length under Wayne Lordan. Musical Comedy (12/1) ran a fine race to finish second under Pat Dobbs for Richard Hannon and the Queen while Maarek (4/1 to 7/2 on-course) kept on well to take third a further length and a quarter back under Jamie Spencer for Evanna McCutcheon.

Fozzy Stack said afterwards: "He likes the ground and is improving. Hopefully it will keep raining!

"I wasn't worried about dropping back to five furlongs. The ground is the key to him.

"The Greenlands is the obvious place to go but he will have to be supplemented. We can see what the ground is like nearer the time."

Anthem Alexander and Eisenhower were both non-runners due to the change in ground.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee