Nap of the Day: Nicky and JP to provide Joy on Friday

No luck so far this week for this Nap of the Day column, courtesy of a faller and two well-backed losers.

Hopefully our fortune flips on Friday, as we go to Ascot for an exciting young filly representing top connections.

Nicky Henderson and JP McManus combined at Warwick on Thursday as That’s Nice ran out a very impressive winner, and I hope the pair can enjoy further joy just 24 hours later.

After a slow start to the season, the Seven Barrows handler is operating at a 35 per cent strike rate courtesy of eight winners from his last 23 runners, which bodes well for JOYEUSE ahead of this “Introductory” Hurdle over just shy of two miles.

The five-year-old daughter of No Risk At All is closely related to Champion Hurdle winner Epatante, who of course represented the same connections, and fetched €235k (£195k) after a bumper victory in France back in October 2022.

It took a while before she made her debut on these shores, but the wait was worthwhile as she won a maiden hurdle against the boys at Taunton at the start of the year, giving weight and a beating to Paul Nicholls' subsequent winner Tutti Quanti, who had the 125-rated Into The Park a further two lengths adrift.

It's fair to say she shaped with considerable promise, but unfortunately she proved difficult to train for the rest of the season as she wasn't seen again.

In a recent stable tour with AtTheRaces, Henderson said she enjoyed a “really good summer” and has a "bright future", so the hope is she's ready to show what she can do again.

Celtic Dino was a 14-length winner on his hurdling debut at Wincanton last month and is respected, but Sam Thomas' string boasted a serious fitness edge at the start of the season and this represents a fair step up in class in my opinion.

Noel George & Amanda Zetterholm's French raider Nothing To Sea also did the business first time out in this sphere, but that form is hard to weigh up and he's a risky proposition.

For me, Joyeuse has more scope than her five rivals and with the yard in such good form, she's the selection for a race her trainer has won three years in a row.

Click the links for the latest Horse Racing Odds and Today's Horse Races

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