SIX promising four-year-olds line up in Sunday’s finale at Navan, the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Future Champions INH Flat Race.

Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown’s trio include two bidding for a hat-trick- impressive point-to-point winner Classical Creek made a smart rules debut at Down Royal, and Kalypso’chance boasts the same perfect record, his bumper win coming by 15 lengths at Punchestown.

The Ted Walsh-trained Friary Road bids to maintain an upward curve, having improved to win a Listowel bumper on his second start, and took a notable step forward when following up at Punchestown next time out. Helen Walsh’s homebred had two of Sunday’s rivals behind him that day, which bodes well for his chances of completing a hat-trick.

“He surprised me at Punchestown,” Ted Walsh told The Irish Field. “I thought he might win at Listowel, but he surprised me at Punchestown- a pleasant surprise, and I’m hoping he’ll surprise me again on Sunday.”

On Sunday’s competition, the trainer commented: “I was very impressed by McConnell’s animal that won at Punchestown [Heads Up], and the horse of Gordon’s that won at a canter that Patrick rides [Classical Creek]. If my horse runs like he did at Punchestown, he should be able to beat Emmet’s horse, and he should be able to beat Whinney Hill.

“Now, whether he will or not is another day’s work, but he’s in good aul nick, and I’ll soon find out how good or bad he is.”

Ground concerns

John McConnell’s exciting contender Heads Up was indeed impressive when winning last time out, making all to win by 24 lengths. He had disappointed when well-backed on debut, but justified connections’ early hopes when second at Galway.

“Obviously, he was impressive the last day and he did what we thought he could do,” McConnell told The Irish Field. “The softer the ground the better, so we’re a little bit worried that it might be drying out for him, but he’s in great nick and we’re very hopeful of a good run.”

Reflecting on last month’s improvement, the trainer said: “He’s a bit mentally immature, so it took a couple of runs for the penny to drop. Also, the soft ground suits him- he went through it like it was good ground, so I think both of those factors made the difference.”