For Monday’s NAP of the Day, we continue with our brief sojourn Stateside with regular UK based programming back on the bill for Tuesday. Our guy with an eye on the US Racing industry has picked out a four-year-old filly who is by far the best of her field in a small six-horse race at Mountaineer Park in the early hours of Tuesday morning…

When trying to find the Nap of the Day, one of the first things I look for is, ‘Can I find a horse who is just head and shoulders above the rest in their race?’ If the answer is yes then I try to see if there is a reason not to back them. This is what I’ve done here as this Nestor Rivera trained Time for Cupid whose speed figures are on a different level to any of the other five set to go in Race 4.

Any horse who has come through the Tapit line is bound to get at least a cursory glance but not only does she have very solid bloodlines, her record is also solid enough, although I will put it out there that she hasn’t won any of her previous six starts. That might be a little bit of a concern but her recent races have been in good company at Thistledown and the fields at Mountaineer are often a step below.

Last time out she went stride for stride with the three-time winner Mitesse and in doing so put up her best speed figure of her career. Should this four-year-old replicate such a run then there is little doubt she would blow away this relatively poor quality field. Even if she reverts to her career norm levels, no-one has put up remotely similar numbers.

The second choice in this race according to the linemaker at Mountaineer is Sharp Justice and Time for Cupid has put up ten faster speed figures in her career than the Charlie Livers five-year-old has ever notched up.

Six-year-old Time Like Indy could be competitive but her recent runs have been all over the park with only one outing in 2023 that would be remotely near the favourites average speed figures and not one above.

Basically if Time for Cupid runs an average race for her and everyone else runs their best then our choice should still just about have enough to win and is why I make Time for Cupid my NAP of the Day for Monday (well early Tuesday morning).

*At the time of publication, this race hasn’t been priced up but we expect Time for Cupid to open as an odds-on favourite.