NAP of the Day: Spartan Army to conquer at Newcastle

Good Friday can only mean All-Weather Finals action, as Newcastle and Lingfield take centre stage with their Championship and Vase cards respectively.

Our NAP of the Day is thriving since he was switched to the all-weather by Alan King and is fancied to complete a four-timer on AW Finals Day in the north-east.

The AW Finals card at Newcastle is a terrific afternoon of racing, with competitive fields abound and plenty tricky puzzles for punters to solve.

The second race on the afternoon at Gosforth Park is the All-Weather Championships Marathon Handicap over two miles, which features a field of 13 contenders and in-form SPARTAN ARMY is fancied to justify favouritism for Alan King and David Probert.

The gelded son of Highland Reel was a June 2022 Down Royal maiden winner on the turf for Joseph O'Brien before switching to the Barbury Castle handler.

He won twice in five attempts in his first season over hurdles in Britain, at Wetherby and Taunton, and had one start on the Flat at Bath in October past when heavy ground appeared to catch him out.

He had two more pre-Christmas spins over timber, but has really found his mojo since switching to synthetic surfaces in February.

He won gamely at Lingfield first up and had added further successes at Southwell and then back at the Surrey venue on the first of this month.

That most recent win saw him defeating the re-opposing Prydwen by a neck. Spartan Army spun into the lead off the final bend and looked briefly as though he'd win quite comfortably, but Prydwen came after him and it appeared as though he was going to come past and win.

Carrying a 5lb penalty for his win at Southwell previously, Spartan Army wasn't having it and when his rival got to him, he picked up again and found the extra that was needed to seal the hat-trick.

On that evidence, there may still be more improvement to come and the willingness to get down and dig in is something that will be required up the testing home straight at Newcastle.

A further 4lb rise was meted out for the latest Lingfield success four weeks ago, but Spartan Army isn't exposed in this sphere just yet and the manner of the win hints that he could still be up to defying the assessor.

This is his toughest test on the all-weather so far, but he's got a lovely racing weight of 8st 13lb and is fancied to confirm his upwardly mobile status in this sphere with a statement win for King.

Find our NAP of the Day here at Betfred Insights