Ground Vitally Important to Oliver 5yo

Whatever rain got into the ground by mid-afternoon at Naas didn't stop Vitally Important returning to form in the New BBQ Evening Format At Naas Handicap.

Trainer Andy Oliver put a couple of reverses this season for the lightly-raced five-year-old down to the ground, and he came good here after attracting some late support into 10/1.

Fran Berry produced the son of Pivotal to lead well over a furlong out, and he kept on strongly inside the final furlong to beat Strait Of Zanzibar by two and three quarter lengths. Texas Rock was a further three quarters of a length back in third, with Trinity Force in fourth.

Oliver said, "Fran gave him a great ride. He's a big horse and showed a lot of promise on his first start. He didn't build on that in his two runs this year but we put a lot of that down to the ground.

"Even though he's by Pivotal, he likes a bit of better ground and it was just about ideal today (officially good to yielding). We'll see what the handicapper does with him."