THE Grade 1 Lawlor's of Naas Novice Hurdle will be staged on Friday following the forced curtailment of Sunday's card due to fog.
Horse Racing Ireland confirmed the new date at 3pm. This rescheduled meeting will feature the six races that were not run on Sunday and one extra race, a two-mile low-grade handicap hurdle.
Fresh entries for this meeting will close at noon on Monday, with the exception of the Grade 1 which will revert to the original entry stage with fresh forfeits/supplementary entries to be made by noon on Monday. Declarations for all races will be finalised on Wednesday at 10am.
Naas was covered in a light frost on Sunday morning but the ground was described as raceable by clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan following an early morning inspection.
However, the course was covered in a thick blanket of fog and officials scheduled another inspection for 9.30am. Eventually the fog began to lift and racing was given the green light at 11am.
The first race took place at 12.30pm but jockeys told the stewards afterwards that visibility was poor. As the stewards deliberated, conditions appeared to worsen and, shortly after 1pm, the decision was taken to abandon the remainder of the card.
Racecourse chairman Dermot Cantillon said: "It's very disappointing for those who travelled here. It's just so random - it's perfect 100 yards up the road but this spot is affected very badly. We owe it to the industry to have a spectacle that people can see. The writing was on the wall after the first race."
He added that those who bought tickets for Sunday would be refunded while it will be free admission on Friday.
Night And Day beat odds-on stablemate Brandy Love in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Beginners Chase – the only race to take place at Naas on Sunday.
The pair, who are both trained by Willie Mullins, were sent off at odds of 9/1 and 1/4 respectively, with Grade 1-winning hurdler Brandy Love the heavy favourite after finishing second on her first spin over fences.
It was an unsatisfactory spectacle, with the start of the race delayed due to heavy fog at the track and extremely limited viewing on offer to spectators both on course and at home once the contest did get under way.
When they emerged from the gloom at the top of the straight Brandy Love was in front, but by the time they came into view again after the last, the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned Night And Day had a healthy advantage in the hands of Daryl Jacob.
She had been well beaten in fifth on her chasing bow, but took a leap forward with a 10-length victory.
Jacob said: “I had Paul (Townend on Brandy Love) and J.J. (Slevin on Tophill Low) in front of me and I was speaking to Jack (Kennedy on Jumping Jet) as we were going around but it’s very difficult, I’m not going to lie.
“The fog is thicker down the back straight where we started off. We can see in time for the fences about 100 yards before.
“She settled and jumped well and got into the race nicely. I just got her to relax and breathe properly before getting her into the race.
“Brandy Love was in front and I took it up from the second-last going to the last. She galloped right through the line.”
The Naas stewards posted the following report: "Following the running of Race 1 the Raceday Stewards met with a delegation of riders, a riders' association representative, a representative from the Trainers' Association, the Judge, the Clerk of the Course, the Medical Officer and the Racecourse Manager to discuss the deteriorating visibility. Having considered the matter the Raceday Stewards abandoned the remainder of the card under the provisions of Rule 10 (i)."