Nap of the Day: 11/2 Haggas filly my First Instinct for Friday

Newmarket's Future Champions Festival, which runs across two days, kicks off on Friday and it's one on the card that rates my Nap of the Day.

One of five Group races at Newmarket on Friday is the Oh So Sharp Stakes - a seven-furlong contest for two-year-old fillies.

Ten go to post bidding for Group 3 honours on the Rowley Mile, and a case could be made for the majority of them.

But for me, William Haggas' FIRST INSTINCT makes strong appeal at 11/2. My instinct is that surely underestimates her.

The daughter of Bated Breath was fairly easy to back on her racecourse debut at Nottingham in August, but after a slow start she showed lots of ability to beat the 5/4 favourite Kalahari Blue by a neck.

She then went to Haydock a few weeks later, upped in class, and won again under a six-pound penalty, beating another short-priced favourite in Stormy Impact (11/10) by a shoulder.

That rival, who's officially rated 92, subsequently emerged with credit behind the selection's stablemate Sky Majesty in the G3 Firth Of Clyde at Ayr towards the end of last month, before winning at Musselburgh a couple weeks later.

Adding further depth to the form is the 93-rated Liberalised, who was over three lengths behind First Instinct on Merseyside having given a good account of himself in two Group races previously.

I think Haggas' filly is well worth her opening mark of 98, which is only two pounds inferior to Ollie Sangster's Flight, who is the highest-rated (100) runner in the field and second in the betting at time of publication.

14:25 Newmarket Odds

There's reason to suspect the Nap can progress past that particular rival, given she's only had two runs to date (compared to Flight's four) and shapes like this step up in trip will bring out even more improvement.

Official ratings already have her eight pounds clear of Charlie Appleby's Magical Trail, who is also shorter in the market. I can't make sense of that one myself.

Current market leader Cathedral demands respect. She fetched a whopping €800k (£669k) at a breeze-up in May before an impressive debut at Lingfield months later, but that wasn't the strongest race and she's priced mainly on potential.

There's further depth to this race, but as far as I'm concerned First Instinct is overpriced at present and the standout bet for Friday's racing.

Betfred are offering your stake back (up to £10) as a free bet if your selection in the 14:25 Newmarket finishes 2nd.

Click the link to see all Today's Horse Races

Tune into Betfred Insights regularly to find my Nap of the Day