Sunday’s racing has been trimmed to three meetings across Britain and Ireland. With rain likely to make conditions testing, our lucky 15 focuses on soft-ground specialists.
Our attentions turn to Ireland for the day, as Joe Napier gives our Lucky 15 best bets for Sunday.
Navan Racing Tips (Sunday 8 February)
Navan’s meeting features the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle, a race famous for Tiger Roll’s winning exploits. All four of our tips come from the track, with one looking to follow in that horse’s hoofprints.
2.20 Navan – Zanoosh (1pt win – 11/8)
Slow ground has been the making of Zanoosh and this is a very winnable Listed contest for Colm Murphy’s mare. The daughter of Harzand won a bumper with soft in the going description before struggling to land a blow on quicker surfaces on her next two outings. Since November, though, she has been steadily improving. Firstly, she was a close third at Fairyhouse before winning cosplay at Punchestown to start December. However, it is her most recent effort that is the most noteworthy, as she stepped into an open handicap to beat plenty of experienced rivals from a mark of 120. This race is over the same course and distance as that contest and none of her rivals have achieved anything remotely approaching that level of form so far.
2.50 Navan – Better Days Ahead (1pt win – 7/2)
Staffordshire Knot probably should have won the Galmoy Hurdle, but it was disappointing that he was ultimately beaten by 11-year-old Home By The Lee, who was conceding him 9lb too. As a result, stablemate Better Days Ahead is chanced instead. It would appear that the plan for him is to follow the tried and tested Tiger Roll Grand National starting point in this race, as he is quietly fancied for the Aintree showpiece. That said, he is a talented horse in his own right. His best day came over hurdles in the 2024 Martin Pipe at Cheltenham off 140, form which would be plenty good enough to challenge here anyway. However, he stepped forward for Grade 2 honours as a novice chaser and finished a close third in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase last season too. He runs well enough fresh to think he will be ready to fire in this contest too.
3.50 Navan – Oscars Brother (1pt win – 13/8)
Gold Dancer shaped as though staying chases could be the move for him when second to Final Demand at Limerick over Christmas. He has bumped into two very smart rivals the last twice, but might bump into one of a similar enough calibre here in Oscars Brother. Connor King’s charge won a Listed race over hurdles in November 2024, but that was just the start. This season, he has gone from strength to strength, resulting in two chase wins. He was impressive at Galway when outmuscling a Willie Mullins-trained runner-up, who had far greater chasing experience, then dug deep to win a Punchestown Grade 2 to end November. He has had a small break since, but clearly likes slow ground and is firmly on the up.
4.20 Navan – Gringo d’Aubrelle (1pt win – 5/1)
A ten-year-old who missed so much during the middle of his career, Gringo d’Aubrelle partly made up for lost time with a ready win in a handicap hurdle at this track in December. Gordon Elliott’s charge rubbed shoulders with Stage Star and Dysart Dynamo in his novice hurdles season before missing 1020 days. Naturally, he took a while to warm to chasing, but improved with two solid runs over hurdles this term. He then fell when a short price back over fences at Punchestown, but can be forgiven that as his chase rating is so much lower and he could easily profit with conditions otherwise in his favour.
GG Lucky 15 Tips – Sunday 8 February
2.20 Navan – Zanoosh (1pt win – 11/8)
2.50 Navan – Better Days Ahead (1pt win – 7/2)
3.50 Navan – Oscars Brother (1pt win – 13/8)
4.20 Navan – Gringo d’Aubrelle (1pt win – 5/1)
Today’s Meetings & Start Times
- Navan – first race 12:40
FAQs: Today’s Racing Tips
What are today’s GG Lucky 15 tips?
Joe Napier provides the GG Lucky 15 tips on Sunday 8 February, which include selections at Navan.
Which racecourses run on Sunday 8 February 2026?
Chelmsford, Navan & Newcastle.
When were Sunday’s Lucky 15 tips for Navan published?
GG’s Lucky 15 tips for Sunday 8 February were published at 4.31pm on Saturday 7 February.
Who is Joe Napier?
Joe Napier is the deputy editor of GG who gives tips and opinion throughout the week. He has been writing for GG for over four years and is hugely passionate about racing.
Commercial notice: This article on GG.co.uk contains affiliate links. The offers we promote come from operators that we trust and our experts have first-hand experience dealing with. If you open an account through one of these affiliate links then GG will earn revenue. However, we ensure that the money earned goes back into improving and enhancing our coverage of horse racing and other sports, as we look to provide an excellent service to our growing audience.