Jaime Sommers winning at Kilbeggan© Photo Healy Racing
National Hunt racing returns to Navan today, and the pair of recent Michael Bowe-trained winners Jaime Sommers and High Nellie again do battle in the Meath Farm Machinery Hurdle.
Bowe is famous for his handling of legendary racers Limestone Lad and Solerina, and Jaime Sommers is out of that top racemare Solerina, whose career haul of 23 wins yielded the family almost €700,000 in prize money.
Jaime Sommers is in search of just a third career victory but was an impressive winner at Kilbeggan in August.
She now looks very likely to build on that success and was an unlucky loser at Galway on Monday. The daughter of Milan was moving into strong contention but blundered and unseated Cathal Landers at the second-last flight.
She is reunited with Landers and the combination might prove too strong for a pair of recent winners Runyon Rattler and Masterson with Bowe's other runner High Nellie needing to improve to win.
The most valuable event on the card is the €20,000 At The Races Handicap Chase, in which the Joseph O'Brien-trained Katnap makes his return to action.
The 10-year-old was a winner for O'Brien at Leopardstown in January and signed off for the season with a cracking runner-up finish in the Topham Chase at Aintree in April. This two-and-a-half-mile trip should suit and he might be able to get the better of The Winkler to win.
The opening maiden hurdle has attracted the full field of 30 runners, with two reserves for good measure, and the Gordon Elliott-trained, ex-Hugo Palmer inmate Mengli Khan might be able to make it third-time lucky over hurdles on seasonal reappearance, having filled fourth spot in a Grade Three on his last start in February.
