Theatre Could Get Her Ground At Navan

The money came for Feel The Noize earlier this week as she was backed from 22/1 into 8/1 at the off. However, she was never able to get into the race after breaking a shade slowly from the gates. She will be making a quick  reappearance at Wolverhampton on Monday back up in trip and she is one to keep an eye on. I think she definitely has a race in her at some stage.

 

The ground was too lively for Elusive Theatre last time.

Tomorrow the Irish action comes from the Royal County and the feature race is the Grade 2 Navan Hurdle. However, my selection goes in the Grade B handicap hurdle at 1pm and I think Elusive Theatre is massively overpriced at 28/1 for the Crawfords and Patrick Corbett, who claims a valuable 3lb.

This daughter of Elusive Theatre has failed to fire on two starts this season, though she had excuses for both runs. 24f was too far for her on her seasonal comeback at Ayr and she probably needed it from a fitness perspective. She wasn’t disgraced in a Listed heat last time but the combination of good ground and the quality of opposition meant she was always going to be up against it.

This gutsy 7yo mare loves it when the muck is flying and though the ground at Navan is currently described as good to yielding, surely it will soften with Storm Deirdre on the scene. They had a good spill of rain in Navan on Saturday and if the ground is soft or heavy I think Elusive Theatre has a right chance.

She won her bumper here on heavy so she ticks the course form box and she is handicapped to be competitive off a mark of 123. She was beaten less than a length by Captain Redbeard (then rated 139) off 125 on bottomless ground at Ayr last season and she is 2lb lower now. That horse was less than 2L behind Vintage Clouds off 144 in a hot handicap chase at Haydock last month so the form has a solid look to it.

Another cause for optimism is the booking of Patrick Corbett. He has yet to ride this trailblazing mare but he has an eye-catching record when riding for Steven Crawford. From 28 rides he has 3 wins and 9 top four finishes, a frame hitting strike rate of just under 43%. If the ground is heavy I think Elusive Theatre can make a bold bid from the front and at odds of 28/1 (6 places available) she should give each way players a decent run for their money.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 1.00 NAVAN-ELUSIVE THEATRE  E/W @ 28/1 6 PLACES