Nap of the Day: Royal runner Warrants major respect

It's been a joyless week for my Nap of the Day selections, but I'm hoping to end it on a high on Saturday.

Newmarket is the destination, as I put my faith in a returning three-year-old whose form received a high-profile boost recently.

If anywhere near fit enough after a 182-day break, WARRANT HOLDER ought to take all the beating for the King and Queen at Newmarket on Saturday.

John & Thady Gosden's three-year-old son of Frankel debuted on the all-weather at Newcastle in February, going down by just a head to Karl Burke's odds-on favourite Nordic Norm. A length-and-a-half behind in third was Redhot Whisper (82).

It's fair to say the selection was very much the one to take out of Gosforth Park. He was far too immature to do himself justice, bucking and flashing his tail upon exiting the stalls before proving a difficult ride when asked for an effort.

He improved significantly on his return to the North East, upped in trip to 1m2f, the following month. He opened his account with a degree of ease, pulling two-and-a-quarter lengths clear of the second.

Who was that? The Betfred St Leger runner-up Rahiebb.

Roger Varian's Frankel colt, who also placed in the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, has clearly improved a lot throughout the season and he was conceding seven pounds in the Toon, but it's still a high level the selection ran to. It's not like we just denied him on the line - it was a ready success in the end.

It goes without saying, that's a smart piece of form - smarter than anything on offer from his eight rivals on Saturday.

Census and Golden Horse for Simon & Ed Crisford and William Haggas respectively, who are also penalised as a result of previous wins, rate the main dangers.

The former, who only has an extra five pounds to carry instead of seven, was third to a useful horse of Andrew Balding's on debut at Haydock in August before going one better at Wolverhampton exactly a fortnight ago. That form is nothing special as far as I'm concerned.

Golden Horse is a little harder to weigh up, for he was sent off 1/3f before his last-time-out victory at Hamilton. My take is that he didn't beat much, though.

That pair boast a fitness advantage over Warrant Holder, but I'm not at all convinced that'll be enough to take down this exciting prospect.

I'll be very surprised if the winner isn't one of the aforementioned trio, but I suppose you can't entirely rule out Native Spirit or Mothecombe for Charlie Appleby.

The former, a rare non-Godolphin runner for the Newmarket handler, needs to improve a good bit on what he's shown to date, while the latter returns from 435 days on the sidelines following a modest debut, sporting a first-time hood.

Newcomers Danseuse Du Sud and I Am Simba make precious little appeal on paper - and Whisperer and Nige are extremely difficult to advise on all known form.

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