ANOTHER strong flat season for Noel Meade ended on a high as De Name Escapes Me bagged the premier handicap prize that his talents merited in the €75,000 Naas November Handicap.

At the age of 10, this J.P. McManus-owned gelding was the second oldest member of the field but he showed that he remained on the cusp of a notable flat success when he finished third in last month’s Irish Cesarewitch.

Here the 10/1 chance was kept close to the pace by Oisin Orr and entering the last furlong, he took the measure of last year’s Irish Cesarwitch heroine Royal Illusion. The three-year-old Camorra came home with a great rattle to bear down on De Name Escapes Me as the line loomed but Meade’s charge held on by a head.

“He came from a long way back in the Cesarewitch and the plan was to be closer to the pace. He could go back over fences and we’ll probably look towards Christmas. He shows a lot of class on the flat that he doesn’t show over jumps,” siad Meade.

A great day for McManus yielded further cheer as Jessica Harrington’s Barrington Court won the Listed Naas Racecourse Business Club Finale Stakes. This mare only turned her attentions to the level when winning a Bellewstown maiden in late August which was followed by placings at listed and Group 3 level before she won the Bluebell Stakes over this course and distance last month.

All this suggested that the 11/8 favourite was a class apart and she won accordingly under a patient Tom Madden. After getting to the front a furlong out, she accounted for Bolivar by an easy two and a half lengths.

After being picked up for €13,000 out of a Dundalk claimer three days previously Earls netted just over €9,000 for his new connections when winning the Mehmas Handicap over five furlongs. Now with Garvan Donnelly, the Martin Sheridan-owned three-year-old was partnered by Dylan Browne McMonagle and he defeated Mi Esperanza by three-quarters of a length.

Just a couple of weeks after registering the latest Group 1 success of his career, Kevin Manning made it 1,600 career victories on Jim Bolger’s Breaking News (6/1) in the six-furlong maiden.

The 63-rated daughter of Dawn Approach had been placed four times before this contest and she looked quite at home as she dropped back to this trip for the first time. The Jackie Bolger-owned filly got on top to finish a length and three-quarters ahead of Linus Larrabee.

Bolger and Manning landed the 2020 finale with Aiseirigh (7/4) who came good at the third attempt in the Thank You Sobac Soil.ie Healthy Grass Maiden over a mile.

This Teofilo colt showed up very well when seventh in an excellent Curragh maiden won by Galileo Chrome and here he won nicely after getting to the front over two furlongs from home.

The Y H Yue-owned colt reached the line with a length and a quarter to spare and will be better as a four-year-old.

Matthew Smith has a knack of producing the goods on the final day of the season and he struck on this card for the fourth year in a row when Son Of Hypnos (14/1) bagged the near mile and a half handicap.

The three-year-old, who is owned by the trainer’s father Kevin, opened up a clear lead from early on under Robbie Colgan and he lasted home by half a length from Yafordadoe. This was a third win in his last five starts for Son Of Hypnos.

IT has been another fine season for Ken Condon and a particularly impressive aspect of the trainer’s campaign has been his juvenile team so it was entirely appropriate that the last notable two-year-old prize of the season should fall his way.

Colfer Kay was Condon’s representative in the Tally-Ho Stud EBF Birdcatcher Nursery and this Vincent Kelly-owned and bred daughter of Pride Of Dubai followed up her recent maiden success at Navan last month.

She was ridden once again by Niall McCullagh and was again given most to do by Mickey The Steel but this time she had just a head to spare. McCullagh had to bide his time to get some room to deliver a meaningful challenge but this mightn’t have been a bad thing given the testing nature of the ground. The ultra-reliable Colfer Kay burst through between Mickey The Steel and Wood Ranger to strike the front in the last few strides.

“I didn’t think she was a glutton to get the six furlongs so I said to Ken that I’d ride her a bit braver today. At the furlong pole I wasn’t sure I had done the right thing but she answered every call when she got a bit of room,” reported McCullagh.

Ger O’Leary’s best flat season by far saw him end the campaign with 10 winners after the classy Real Force (15/8), who was second at listed level in France last month, outclassed his opponents in the seven-furlong conditions race.

Chris Hayes made the running on the Lance Bloodstock-owned son of Lethal Force who was untroubled at all stages and came home four lengths clear of Silver Service. A trip to Saudi Arabia for the high profile fixture there in late February is a potential option for the winner.