THE flat turf season can creep up on you and surprise you. You are just trying to get your head around what happened at Cheltenham, and thinking about potential implications for Aintree and Fairyhouse and Punchestown, when suddenly entries are in for Naas on Sunday.

It was a good start to the season on Sunday. There was some good racing and several good performances. Karawaan, for starters, was very good in winning the Tote Irish Lincoln. Karawaan was a well-regarded horse when he was trained by Sir Michael Stoute for Sheikh Hamdan as a three-year-old, but he didn’t really realise his potential as a four-year-old.