Naina continues on upward curve with nursery win

Nick Robson
September 28, 2024 3:57 pm

John Ryan’s filly has now prevailed in four of her last five races.

John Ryan is contemplating trying to get a bit of black type with Naina, who won for the fourth time in five outings in the British Stallion Studs EBF ‘Jersey Lily’ Fillies’ Nursery Handicap at Newmarket.

Since winning a Brighton maiden in early July, she has thrived and the 6-1 shot arrived late under Christian Howarth before running out a length and three-quarters winner.

“She’s a home bred, a first foal out of a mare that I trained which never got to the racecourse, but the owner stuck with her,” said Ryan.

“When she came out, she was so small we couldn’t send her to the sales, so we trained her and she just kept on improving.

“She’s probably only got beat because the trainer has sent her to the wrong places at the wrong time. We’ll have to have a look and see if we can find a stakes race on this ground.”

Ralph Beckett is rapidly approaching 100 winners for the year and a large proportion of them have been juveniles.

He added another to that list when Saqqara Sands (4-1) was a comfortable winner of the Blandford Bloodstock Maiden Fillies’ Stakes.

Second on her debut at Wolverhampton, Rossa Ryan never had her far from the pace and she held off Texas Starlight by a length and a half.

“She was green first time out and didn’t know what was required, she’s just taken a little while to work out what is required but she’s done that well today,” said Beckett.

“There’s plenty of stamina in her pedigree. We may run her again or we may not, we’ll have a feel and see what comes of it. She could come back for something like the Montrose Stakes. I’m just not sure if she’s going to go in her coat.”