Nap of the Day: 8/1 – that’s Krak-ing value in my book

He was priced accordingly, but Wandering Ego (4/7) bolted up at Huntingdon on Wednesday to get Nap of the Day followers back into the winners' enclosure.

I'm looking to stay there on Thursday, courtesy of one at a much bigger price from Ludlow.

He's got a bit to prove, but I can't let KRAK go unbacked at 8/1 for this 0-120 handicap hurdle at Ludlow on Thursday.

Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies' six-year-old has managed just one win in eight starts to date, but the Simon Munir & Isaac Souede-owned son of Muhtathir has enough form in the book to suggest that, if rediscovering anything like the best version of himself, he ought to be very dangerous off a reduced mark of 122.

None more so than his racecourse debut at Leopardstown during the Christmas period of 2024, when under the care of Stuart Crawford in Northern Ireland.

Krak was third of 12 in Dublin, just over nine lengths behind subsequent Grade 1 winner Kaid d'Authie (rated 158) and Koktail Divin (150). That needs no further explanation.

He failed to build on it at Naas the following month, albeit he bumped into a subsequent Grade 3 winner in Ballybow, and it was a bitterly-disappointing effort at Navan around this time last year.

The handicapper allocated him a mark of 118 after that even-money defeat in County Meath, which proved an underestimation as he went on to make easy work of a €26k contest at Cork's Easter Festival in April.

He was highly-tried on his first start for the Twiston-Davieses, in the G2 Persian War Novices' Hurdle at Chepstow's Welsh Racing Festival, which was a bit of a disaster as he finished sixth of eight, beaten 38 lengths. That margin is exaggerated, however, as Krak was eased right off shortly after jumping the second last.

A switch of tack followed, as the €90k gelding embarked on a career over fences. A short-lived one, lasting just two starts. He wasn't disgraced on the first attempt at Sandown in the first week of December, but didn't appear to be in love with the new discipline at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Connections then tried to capitalise on his falling mark by putting him back over hurdles in the Lanzarote back at Kempton just over a fortnight later, but it was another failed experiment. Tenth of 15, a whopping 30 lengths off the pace.

On paper, it appears to be a horse in regression. A horse that's losing interest in the game. Rapidly.

Maybe that's exactly how it is, but I think there's as much chance he's simply suffered from a stunted campaign. Hurdles, to fences, back to hurdles. Three runs in just over a month during the winter. Less than ideal.

He's been given a 68-day break and is lowered significantly in grade on his return, off three pounds lower. If he's back to anything like his best, he could a mockery of these odds.

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