Nap of the Day: An 8/1 best bet? That’s the Spirit!

The first obstacle in front of my Nap of the Day on Saturday is a 7.30am inspection at Sandown due to sub-zero temperatures. Fingers crossed we clear that, for I've got high hopes about one in the lucky last at the Surrey venue.

The handicapper has given Oh My Johnny every chance with an opening mark of 116 and given the red-hot form of Philip Hobbs & Johnson White, I expect him to prove popular for this 0-140 handicap hurdle over two miles.

However, it was a poor race he won at Uttoxeter last month and he still has questions to answer in the jumping department. That's going to be put to the test in this more competitive affair involving experienced hurdlers.

He is, at time of publication, too short as far as I'm concerned, whereas Nigel Twiston-Davies' SPIRITS BAY looks overpriced at 9/1.

The seven-year-old son of Black Sam Bellamy showed a fair amount of ability as a novice last season and I thought his run at Cheltenham's Christmas Meeting last month - his first in open company after 265 days on the sidelines - was extremely eye-catching.

He's usually a very strong traveller, but he was keen under Jordan Nailor during the early stages of that contest, yet still managed to make strong headway after the penultimate flight and dare I say looked booked for second place behind the tearaway winner Mirabad.

Understandably considering how he raced, and the walk he took in the market beforehand, he weakened up the run-in but was only seven-and-a-half lengths off the pace in fifth. I thought it was a great effort under the circumstances.

Hopefully he was just a bit fresh having been off the track so long and will do things more economically in Surrey on Saturday. If he does, he must have an excellent chance.

Given the manner in which he beat reliable yardstick Donnacha - rated 117 - at Exeter in March last year off a mark of 118 and the way he performed the last day in spite of doing plenty wrong, I'm very hopeful he has more to offer off eight pounds higher.

Conditions are also a big factor behind this selection. Spirits Bay's form on soft or worse reads 2F11 and it's currently soft all over on the hurdles course at Sandown - and I don't see that improving overnight.

I think there's plenty in his favour here and I'm really looking forward to seeing how he gets on. I'm quietly confident.

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