Racecourse Guide

Naas
Flat

Tipper Road, Naas, County Kildare · 18 miles southwest of Dublin

⬤ Flat Turf
Turf
Left-Handed
Galloping
Ascot Trials Day

Round Course

~1½m left-handed oval

Straight Course

5f–6f via 2f chute

Direction

Left-handed

Surface

Turf

Shape

Galloping stiff finish

Key Race

Blue Wind Stks Gr.3

Track Breakdown

Course Overview

Track Character

Naas is Irish Flat racing’s fast-improver. A track founded by eight local men in 1922 and first raced in June 1924 now stages four black-type races, took three consecutive Racecourse of the Year awards at the Irish owners’ association (2022–24), and opened its landmark Circle building in 2019 as the face of a €3.2m redevelopment. The Flat season runs from late March to an October festival weekend within a twenty-fixture year.

The course is a left-handed, galloping oval of about a mile and a half, finishing up a genuinely stiff four-furlong straight. A two-furlong chute lets five- and six-furlong races run on an effectively straight course — one that rides fairer than it used to, after levelling works flattened the old ridges in the first three furlongs of the straight. It is an honest, staying test: long-striding gallopers proven at the trip are the type.

The black-type calendar clusters in early summer. The Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes in May — named for the 1981 dual Oaks heroine, at Naas since 2005 — is an Oaks trial under Al Shira’aa sponsorship; mid-May’s Royal Ascot Trials Day doubles the Group 3 Lacken Stakes with the Group 3 fillies’ sprint, and the form travels: Charles Darwin won at Naas in 2025 en route to the Norfolk Stakes. The Listed Naas Oaks Trial follows in late June — Even So completed the trial–Irish Oaks double in 2020.

The other thing to know: Ballydoyle uses Naas. Auguste Rodin won his maiden here in July 2022 before his Epsom and Irish Derby double; Little Big Bear won a five-furlong maiden here before being crowned Europe’s champion juvenile of 2022. Sources genuinely disagree on Aidan O’Brien’s exact course tally — one study logs 124 wins at 20.3%, another 74 at 28% — but nobody disputes the pattern. Ger Lyons, 75 wins at 17% and profitable to follow blind here, is the value name; Colin Keane leads the riders.

Mick Kinane’s view deals with the track’s old nickname head-on:

“It’s known as the ‘Punter’s Graveyard’, but I don’t see why it plays out like that, as it is a fair track by all accounts. On the round track, the ground before the chute for the mile start back up to the mile-and-a-quarter start tends to get softer than the rest of it. I’d always prefer a low draw in the mile-and-a-quarter races. The seven furlong and mile tracks are very fair. The draw isn’t a big issue, as there is plenty of time to get across and find a position before the turn into the straight. The sprint track has always been good and it is even better now since they levelled out the first three furlongs or so to take the ridges out of it. The draw isn’t really a factor on it barring the ground gets soft, then high draws are favoured as they tend to come towards the stand rail.”
— Mick Kinane, former champion Irish Flat jockey — At The Races

The “Punter’s Graveyard” tag, in other words, is about competitiveness, not unfairness — big, open Irish handicaps are simply hard puzzles. Kinane’s two practical markers survive every check: soft ground redraws the sprint course (high numbers drift to the stand rail), and low is the preference when the mile-and-a-quarter races load. The full draw picture, sources disagreements included, is below.

Course Facts

Circuit ~1½ miles, left-handed, galloping — a stiff four-furlong straight rising to the line
Sprints 5f–6f run straight via the two-furlong chute; old ridges in the straight levelled out
Draw Low strongly favoured at 5f (small samples), a milder low lean at 6f, fair at 7f–1m, low again at 1m2f+ — and the sprint read flips high on soft
Ground quirk The approach before the chute (around the mile start) rides softer than the rest
Season Late March to the October festival weekend, within ~20 fixtures a year

Black-Type Calendar

May Blue Wind Stakes, Gr.3, 1m2f — Oaks trial, at Naas since 2005
Mid-May Royal Ascot Trials Day: Lacken Stakes Gr.3 (6f, 3yos) + the Gr.3 fillies’ sprint (6f, 2yos)
Late June Naas Oaks Trial, Listed, 1m2f — Even So did the double in 2020
Pedigree Sioux Nation and Caravaggio among past Lacken winners; Charles Darwin went Naas → Norfolk Stakes in 2025

Ground & Access

Drainage Uneven — the final stretch drains best; the far side and the pre-chute zone ride softer
Yielding Ireland’s between-good-and-soft reading — usually a shade slower than a British “good to soft”
Where Tipper Road, Naas, Co. Kildare — 18 miles southwest of Dublin, M7 exit 9, ~35–40 minutes
Note Punchestown is a separate course four miles away — an easy mix-up

Draw Analysis

Draw Bias by Distance

Naas has real, quantified draw structure — with sample-size honesty required at the extremes. At five furlongs, the two specialist sources agree emphatically: low draws have “massively outperformed” (a low-draw PRB of 0.56 in the Geegeez data), and drawbias.com found no winners from the top half — while itself warning Naas rarely runs 5f races, “so very little to go on.” At six furlongs both agree the low lean persists, less pronounced. At 7f–1m the edge all but disappears. At 1m2f–1m4f, low numbers hold a slight edge because the bend arrives soon after the start — Kinane’s preference too. One dissenting site claims “medium to high stalls have fared best” in the chute races, with no numbers or dates attached; two evidenced sources against one unsourced claim is a weighting, not a resolution. And the going twist belongs to the rider: on soft ground the sprint field drifts to the stand rail and high draws come into their own.

Low — Strongly Favoured

Low-draw PRB 0.56 and no top-half winners in the samples — but 5f races are rare here, so the certainty is capped by the sample. One unsourced site dissents toward middle-high; the evidence-carrying sources both say low.

Low Lean

Both specialist sources find the low edge persists at six furlongs, milder than at the minimum. On soft ground, flip the read: the field tacks to the stand rail and high draws are favoured (Kinane).

7f – 1m

Broadly Fair

The low edge “all but disappears” — plenty of time to find a position before the turn. One source wonders about a mild anti-middle effect; nothing firm enough to price.

1m2f – 1m4f

Low Helps

A bend soon after the start gives inside stalls a slight, persistent edge — and the rider’s preference matches the data here. Combine low with a prominent style for the full effect.

Sources: Geegeez’s Naas course study (PRB figures) and drawbias.com (independent agreement, with its own small-sample caveats), plus Mick Kinane’s rider view via At The Races — including the soft-ground stand-rail reversal. The lone “medium-to-high” dissent is noted above. No stalls-level draw pull has been run for this page yet; quantified bars will follow.

Statistics · Since 2010

Top Trainers & Jockeys

Trainer	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 O’Brien, A P	849	193	22.73%	382	44.99%	0.95	-79.30
2 Lyons, G M	676	112	16.57%	258	38.17%	0.95	-65.07
3 Bolger, J S	629	72	11.45%	165	26.23%	0.95	-88.80
4 Harrington, Mrs John	604	65	10.76%	193	31.95%	0.87	-113.12
5 Weld, D K	495	54	10.91%	160	32.32%	0.69	-214.87
6 O’Brien, Joseph Patrick	498	52	10.44%	155	31.12%	0.76	-109.63
7 Murtagh, J P	423	38	8.98%	123	29.08%	0.77	-112.65
8 Lynam, Edward	265	32	12.08%	91	34.34%	0.99	-24.23
9 O’Callaghan, M D	255	32	12.55%	78	30.59%	0.92	-50.22
10 McCreery, W	353	22	6.23%	82	23.23%	0.64	-165.76
11 Meade, Noel	173	22	12.72%	44	25.43%	1.39	+21.33
12 Stack, J A	168	21	12.50%	55	32.74%	1.05	+61.72
13 Condon, K J	198	19	9.60%	58	29.29%	0.89	-56.42
14 Prendergast, Kevin	195	19	9.74%	47	24.10%	0.79	-57.62
15 Oliver, Andrew	168	19	11.31%	46	27.38%	1.13	+74.07
16 Halford, M	329	17	5.17%	86	26.14%	0.46	-222.01
17 McGuinness, Adrian	256	17	6.64%	60	23.44%	0.83	-29.75
18 Slattery, Andrew	210	15	7.14%	51	24.29%	0.82	-56.00
19 Oxx, John M	110	14	12.73%	31	28.18%	0.88	-33.93
20 Wachman, David	151	13	8.61%	48	31.79%	0.61	-65.27

Naas Flat, since 2010. A P O’Brien leads the page on volume (193 wins from 849, 22.7% SR, A/E 0.95). The real value signals are Noel Meade (A/E 1.39, +£21.33). Oppose the over-bet M Halford (A/E 0.46), David Wachman (A/E 0.61) and W McCreery (A/E 0.64).

Jockey	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Keane, C T	746	128	17.16%	296	39.68%	0.95	-20.32
2 Hayes, C D	754	72	9.55%	211	27.98%	0.91	-74.81
3 Foley, Shane	729	72	9.88%	231	31.69%	0.79	-225.13
4 Lordan, W M	582	60	10.31%	160	27.49%	0.81	-176.52
5 Heffernan, J A	502	55	10.96%	143	28.49%	0.87	-133.28
6 Manning, K J	516	54	10.47%	133	25.78%	0.82	-114.30
7 Moore, Ryan	133	49	36.84%	80	60.15%	1.00	-3.88
8 Lee, W J	601	48	7.99%	165	27.45%	0.66	-244.32
9 Smullen, P J	334	43	12.87%	115	34.43%	0.75	-77.85
10 Carroll, G F	501	42	8.38%	100	19.96%	0.98	-79.48
11 O’Brien, Donnacha	151	38	25.17%	75	49.67%	1.05	-2.44
12 McDonogh, D P	486	37	7.61%	133	27.37%	0.68	-150.41
13 McMonagle, Dylan B	219	31	14.16%	76	34.70%	0.96	+18.28
14 Roche, L F	409	29	7.09%	96	23.47%	0.89	-138.43
15 Coen, Ben M	343	28	8.16%	80	23.32%	0.80	-102.72
16 Whelan, R P	517	25	4.84%	115	22.24%	0.60	-202.15
17 O’Brien, J P	128	25	19.53%	55	42.97%	0.69	-48.94
18 Ryan, Gavin	206	24	11.65%	54	26.21%	1.03	-4.85
19 Slattery, A J	229	18	7.86%	63	27.51%	0.92	+5.00
20 Berry, F M	171	18	10.53%	62	36.26%	0.81	-46.87

Naas Flat, since 2010. C T Keane leads the riders on volume (128 wins from 746, 17.2% SR, A/E 0.95). Oppose the over-bet R P Whelan (A/E 0.60), W J Lee (A/E 0.66) and D P McDonogh (A/E 0.68).

Sire Statistics · Since 2010

Top Sires

A/E above 1.0 indicates market underestimation.

Sire	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Galileo (IRE)	323	52	16.10%	117	36.22%	0.84	-78.21
2 No Nay Never (USA)	218	40	18.35%	82	37.61%	1.08	+28.56
3 Invincible Spirit (IRE)	252	27	10.71%	78	30.95%	0.80	-117.67
4 War Front (USA)	105	27	25.71%	47	44.76%	1.11	+7.30
5 Holy Roman Emperor (IRE)	214	25	11.68%	51	23.83%	1.06	-1.18
6 Kodiac	314	24	7.64%	88	28.03%	0.73	-147.88
7 Starspangledbanner (AUS)	203	22	10.84%	67	33.00%	0.92	+28.10
8 Dark Angel (IRE)	253	21	8.30%	67	26.48%	0.63	-160.67
9 Acclamation	239	21	8.79%	66	27.62%	0.80	-87.77
10 Footstepsinthesand	239	21	8.79%	57	23.85%	1.00	-36.54
11 Wootton Bassett	73	19	26.03%	31	42.47%	1.15	+55.76
12 Dandy Man (IRE)	305	16	5.25%	69	22.62%	0.63	-159.30
13 Teofilo (IRE)	146	16	10.96%	34	23.29%	0.88	-61.16
14 Lope De Vega (IRE)	133	16	12.03%	38	28.57%	0.78	-38.68
15 Dawn Approach (IRE)	125	16	12.80%	37	29.60%	1.42	+85.25
16 Pivotal	69	15	21.74%	29	42.03%	1.40	+25.37
17 Camelot	105	14	13.33%	31	29.52%	1.01	-39.41
18 Shamardal (USA)	104	14	13.46%	33	31.73%	0.93	-22.98
19 Oasis Dream	117	13	11.11%	30	25.64%	0.79	-62.26
20 Choisir (AUS)	92	13	14.13%	30	32.61%	1.32	+56.03

Naas Flat, since 2010. Galileo (IRE) tops the sire list (52 wins from 323, 16.1% SR, A/E 0.84), though the market prices that in. The real value signals are Dawn Approach (IRE) (A/E 1.42, +£85.25), Choisir (AUS) (A/E 1.32, +£56.03) and Wootton Bassett (A/E 1.15, +£55.76). Oppose the over-bet Dark Angel (IRE) (A/E 0.63), Dandy Man (IRE) (A/E 0.63) and Kodiac (A/E 0.73).

Insider Knowledge

Betting Tips for Naas Flat Turf

⚖

The sprint draw is a two-state system

On sound ground the chute course is close to fair with a low lean; when it turns soft the field migrates to the stand rail and high draws take over — a rider-documented reversal most draw tables never show. Check the going before you check the stalls, and price the flip in soft-ground sprints.

📍

Low plus prominent at a mile and a quarter

The bend arrives quickly from the 1m2f start, the data gives inside stalls a slight persistent edge, and Kinane always preferred low there. A low draw on a horse that will be ridden handy is the cleanest structural shape Naas offers.

⛰

Trust stayers up the hill

The four-furlong rising straight is the examination: horses proven at the trip keep finding, flashy travellers stepping up in distance get found out. The “Punter’s Graveyard” loses its teeth once you insist on proven stamina.

🏆

Ascot Trials Day form is the point of it

Naas’s mid-May card exists to trial Royal Ascot, and the form does travel — Charles Darwin won here in 2025 before the Norfolk Stakes, following a Lacken lineage that includes Sioux Nation and Caravaggio. Winners off that card re-oppose at Ascot with form the British market still under-reads.

📈

Lyons is the value; O’Brien is the tax

Ger Lyons’ 75 Naas wins at 17% have been profitable to follow blind (+6.51); Aidan O’Brien wins plenty here — sources disagree whether his tally is 74 or 124 — but the course study prices him at a heavy blind-backing loss (−108.82). Pay for the Lyons runner; audit the price on the Ballydoyle one.

🌧

Respect the mile-start ground quirk

The stretch before the chute — around the mile to 1m2f starts — rides softer than the rest of the course. In marginal going, mile races begin on the track’s worst ground: another quiet upgrade for proven soft-ground horses at those trips.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Quoting a single Aidan O’Brien course record. Two reputable sources disagree by fifty wins (74 vs 124) with undisclosed windows — the pattern of Ballydoyle success is real; any precise number needs its source named.
Applying one sprint-draw rule in all conditions. The low-draw lean holds on sound ground and reverses toward the stand rail on soft — the going decides which table you are in.
Confusing Naas with Punchestown, four miles away and routinely geo-tagged “Naas.” Different tracks, different codes of emphasis, different guides.
Reading Irish “yielding” as British “good to soft.” It usually rides a shade slower — and at Naas the far side and mile-start zones ride slower still than the posted word.

Common Questions

Naas (Flat) Racecourse FAQs

Is there a draw bias at Naas?

Trip and going dependent. At 5f low draws have dominated the small samples (PRB 0.56, no top-half winners in one dataset); at 6f the low lean persists more mildly; at 7f–1m the track is broadly fair; and from 1m2f the quick first bend gives low stalls a slight edge again. The crucial condition: on soft ground the sprint field drifts to the stand rail and high draws are favoured — Mick Kinane’s rider-documented reversal. One dissenting site claims medium-high suits the chute; the two evidence-carrying sources both say low.

What kind of track is Naas on the Flat?

A left-handed, galloping oval of roughly a mile and a half with a stiff, rising four-furlong home straight — plus a two-furlong chute that lets 5f and 6f races run effectively straight, on ground made fairer by levelling works. It is an honest stamina test suiting long-striding gallopers proven at the trip. The “Punter’s Graveyard” nickname reflects the competitiveness of its big handicaps, not any unfairness in the track — Kinane called it fair by all accounts.

What are the big Flat races at Naas?

Four black-type contests, clustered in early summer: the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes over 1m2f in May (an Oaks trial, at Naas since 2005), the Group 3 Lacken Stakes and the Group 3 fillies’ sprint together on Royal Ascot Trials Day in mid-May, and the Listed Naas Oaks Trial in late June — Even So won it and the Irish Oaks itself in 2020. The Trials Day form genuinely travels: Charles Darwin won at Naas in 2025 before taking the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Do the big yards use Naas?

Constantly — it is one of Ballydoyle’s favourite schooling grounds in public. Auguste Rodin won his maiden here in July 2022 before his 2023 Epsom and Irish Derby double, and Little Big Bear took a five-furlong Naas maiden before being crowned Europe’s champion two-year-old of 2022. Sources disagree on Aidan O’Brien’s exact course tally (74 vs 124 wins), but not on the pattern. Ger Lyons — 75 wins at 17%, profitable to follow blind — is the local stable the market underrates.

Where is Naas racecourse?

On Tipper Road on the edge of Naas town, County Kildare — about 18 miles southwest of Dublin, roughly 35–40 minutes via the N7/M7 (exit 9, five minutes from the motorway). Don’t confuse it with Punchestown, the festival venue four miles away that shares the town’s postal address in most listings. The Flat season runs from late March to an October festival weekend.

Explore

Nearby Tracks

The Curragh

Eight miles away — HQ of the Irish Flat.

Leopardstown

Dublin’s Champions Festival stage.

Galway

The summer festival’s unique switchback.

Want the thinking behind Naas bets?

FormDial posts every selection before the off with its full reasoning: the angle, the price, the logic. See how course knowledge feeds into real tips.

TODAY’S DIAL →

From the Formdial Shop

Going racing here?

The Trackside Companion is your day at the races, written to order — every race on your meeting’s card broken down, plus this track’s draw, angles and people distilled from the guide you’ve just read. Order at least a week before your raceday.

Plan your raceday →

NaasFlat