O'Brien send strong team to Navan The action begins with a bang at Navan as the Listed Coolmore Stud Power Stakes kickstarts an eight-race programme at 1.45. Understandably given the race sponsor, Ballydoyle and the team at Coolmore are well represented in the near six-furlong opener. Aidan O'Brien has the top-rated pair, with Seamie Heffernan aboard the 112-rated Washington DC. Stable companion Waterloo Bridge is assessed as a 108 performer, and Colm O'Donoghue rides this colt, who is another son of Zoffany. Coolmore man Paul Shanahan, and his wife Linda, are partners with rugby star Ronan O'Gara in Most Beautiful. The course-and-distance scorer could be aided here by the addition of cheekpieces. David Wachman has care of Most Beautiful, and he has also got Independence Day in the line-up. The Longfield Stud trainer deploys cheekpieces for the first-time on this runner, too. Half an hour later in the Requinto European Breeders Fund Maiden, Edgar Allan Poe could be the one. By the aforementioned Zoffany, this juvenile is expected to come forward significantly from his Naas debut. They are represented down at Killarney in the feature with Pyromaniac, and Newtown Anner Stud Farm Ltd and Tony Martin have to also be taken seriously in the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Fillies Handicap with Laganore. Kieren Fallon rides the top-weight, and the daughter of Fastnet Rock should make a bold bid. Dragon Fei and Ringside Humour, second and fourth here 12 months back, return with definite hopes. The likelihood is that plenty of future winners will emerge from both the Pour Moi European Breeders Fund Maiden and the Excelebration Maiden that complete the card. There are no less than 11 newcomers in the first of these. Arch Sting could make his experience count after finishing second at Dundalk last October. The finale will be easier assessed with market reference. At this juncture Successor is the token pick.
