Will Due Diligence win at Naas? The eyes and money of the majority of racing hacks in Britain and Ireland will be on Due Diligence when he runs in the Woodlands 100 Club handicap at Naas this evening. The American import was the talk of a press open day at Ballydoyle on Monday. Aidan O'Brien picked out the son of War Front for special mention on more than one occasion and even used the electrifying phrase 'thrown in' when assessing the mark allotted by the handicapper for this evening's event. Due Diligence won over 6 furlongs on debut in America last August before finishing fourth in a Group 3 contest on his only other start before joining the string at Ballydoyle. The colt made his Irish debut at Dundalk last month when a respectable third to the useful Prince Of All over 7 furlongs but the form of that contest has taken some knocks with the horses finishing either side of Due Diligence both running poorly at the Curragh. Of greater significance however is the trainer's observations that Due Diligence is 'a sprinter' and has been producing some remarkable work on the four-furlong all-weather gallop at home. O'Brien tells us that Due Diligence is beating fellow sprinter Guerre by five lengths. Guerre, another three-year-old son of War Front, is no slouch. He was too quick for Group 1 winner Maarek at Naas three weeks ago when winning a Listed contest and is now officially rated 110. Due Diligence makes his handicap debut tonight off a mark of 97 so if all above holds true he should be back in the winner's enclosure by about 6:47pm and all will be well in the world.
