Who is this year's Paddington? Aidan O'Brien enters three in Madrid Handicap at Naas on Sunday

Who is this year's Paddington? That will be the question on everyone's lips at Naas on Sunday as Aidan O'Brien has entered three in the Irish Racing Writers Cliff Noone Memorial Madrid Handicap. 

That premier handicap was the stepping stone for a stellar 2023 for Paddington, who went on to win the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James's Palace Stakes, Coral-Eclipse and Sussex Stakes. 

This time around O'Brien could run Curragh maiden winner and Irish Derby entry Meriwether Lewis, who comes into the race with the same 51 form figures as Paddington, the 100-rated Irish 2,000 Guineas entry Military, and the 94-rated Democracy, while the Ger Lyons-trained My Mate Alfie is another interesting three-year-old among the 15 who remain in the race at the five-day forfeit stage. 

The exciting Elegant Man has been entered in the Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Devoy Stakes for trainer Adrian Murray, who started the new turf season with a bang at the Curragh on Monday by winning the opening race. 

Elegant Man has won two of his three starts, with his sole defeat coming in a Listed race at Kempton in December when beaten a length and a quarter by Rebel's Romance. He has since impressively landed a conditions event at Dundalk and is rated 108, but Murray said the Amo Racing-owned four-year-old may instead wait for a race at Newcastle on Good Friday. 

Murray said: "Elegant Man is a fair horse and we're really looking forward to him this season. I'm not sure whether he will go to Naas on Sunday, though, and we might wait for an all-weather race over at Newcastle instead which is worth a lot of money."

French recruit La Filomena looks set to have her first start for Joseph O'Brien in the Devoy Stakes. 

Formerly trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, the four-year-old daughter of Lope De Vega won two of her five races in France, and O'Brien said: "The plan is for La Filomena to run. We think she will handle a bit of juice in the ground and, while she might be wrong at the ratings with a few of the others, hopefully she can run a nice race. It looks a nice starting point for her."

The sprint races at Naas on Sunday have been cancelled due to parts of the course being unfit for racing, so two additional handicaps have been added to the card, which will kickstart the centenary year of racing at the County Kildare track. 

Horse Racing Ireland has announced that the Wexford meeting which was cancelled on Sunday due to waterlogging will be held next Wednesday (March 27).

Entries for this meeting will close at noon on Thursday (March 21), with declarations to run to be made by 10am next Monday (March 25). 

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