Mission Central lands Listed sprint at Naas

The stands' side was again the place to be in the Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital Woodlands Stakes at Naas in which Mission Central (easy-to-back at 13/2) led home lowly-rated outsider Likedbymike in the Listed contest over five furlongs.

Owned by the Coolmore partners, the gelded son of No Nay Never was a three-time winner last season, including in a Group 3 at the Curragh.

Here, he was never far from the pace under Ryan Moore and led over a furlong out to score a shade cosily by three-parts of a length. 

Winning trainer Aidan O'Brien said "We were delighted. He’s obviously a fast horse. 

“We thought that he could be a King’s Stand horse, so we’ll see now. He has loads of speed.

“It was a good effort first time out in a good race. It was a nice race for him.”

When asked if he could go straight to Ascot he added “He could, we’ll see.”

It was a double for O'Brien and Moore after the win of Victorious in the opener. 

Additional reporting by Gary Carson