Nap of the Day: Monsieur to master Windsor on Monday

The new week gets off to a hectic start with a six-pack of Monday meetings to look forward to across Britain and Ireland. Jumps fare is from Southwell and Killarney alongside Flat action at Catterick, Roscommon and Windsor on the turf and Wolverhampton's all-weather meeting, which brings up the rear.

Our Nap of the Day bids to give French-based handler Nick Littmoden a Windsor winner on his turf return after a likeable winter campaign on the synthetic surfaces.

Monday evening racing at Windsor is a true staple of British summertime and the Berkshire venue is now well and truly up and running for the new season.

Their feature race this week is a Class 3 sprint handicap over six furlongs, with a field of 11 runners declared for battle.

Amongst them are likely contenders in Regal Envoy, Havanagreattime and Aramis Grey, each of which should be prominent in the betting, but MONSIEUR BEAULIEU is preferred for trainer Nick Littmoden on his turf return.

The French raider won twice in his native land at Vichy on grass over 5f – both times on soft but he's effective on a quick surface too.

Littmoden, who has held a licence since 1994 except for a couple of years when he took a break, relocated his operation to Vichy in the spring of 2024 but he has campaigned this Equiano gelding on the UK's all-weather circuits to good effect over the winter months.

He had one run at Newmarket (5f, good) in November which came after a layoff, and he has managed wins over 6f/7f at Lingfield in December and January amid a string of consistent efforts on the synthetic surfaces that have also yielded placed runs at Chelmsford, Wolverhampton and Southwell.

He started this month with a neck-second behind Fiscal Policy in Class 4 company at Chelmsford, running on strongly late in the piece but just unable to nail the winner.

That was off this mark of 82 and he returns to the grass now sporting a pair of first-time cheekpieces.

Littmoden has booked Silvestre De Sousa for the ride and the former champion jockey is a good ally. This six-furlong trip around Windsor looks optimal for this turf return and the quick ground should be in their favour.

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