Nap of the Day: 11/8 ‘very fair’ about Saturday’s selection

Last Saturday's Nap was a Gordon Elliott-trained novice hurdler bidding to get off the mark at the fourth attempt (spoiler: he did).

Seven days later, it's another in the exact same boat that carries the weight of my expectation.

I'm expecting Gordon Elliott's GRIMAUD to shed his maiden tag at the fourth attempt at Gowran Park on Saturday.

The five-year-old son of Zoffany, who fetched €55k after six starts on the level in France, has run three times over hurdles to date, recording form figures of 332 to earn an opening mark of 123.

He was far too green to do himself justice on debut at Cork back in November, finishing over 10 lengths off the pace in third, but improved notably when occupying the same finishing position - but a little bit closer - at Navan a month later.

On that occasion he was much more straightforward and the form is a lot stronger too. The winner, whose name (Goraibhmaithagat) I daren't pronounce, clocked a Racing Post Rating of 125 next time out, while the runner-up Autoportrait has performed to a similar figure on his subsequent three appearances.

He improved again when second at Fairyhouse in mid-January, going down by four-and-a-half lengths to Willie Mullins' Fishery Lane, who looks set to run in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle next Friday at the Cheltenham Festival.

That's strong form in the context of Saturday's race. For me, stronger than anything else on offer in this 20-strong field.

He's unlikely to meet anything of that calibre here, or the calibre of horses he would have met in a Listed handicap hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival he was set to contest before a stone bruise ruled him out.

As the betting suggests, Henry de Bromhead's Captain Ryan Matt looks the main danger. He was a distant second to exciting Willie Mullins prospect Karbau, who could line up in the Supreme next week, at Punchestown just over a month ago and he could take another step forward. However, I think Grimaud's form is significantly better at this stage.

As for the others, it's slim pickings. Sixtripleeight is an interesting newcomer but Jack Kennedy prefers the Nap, while Noel Meade's Fierce Handay didn't go without promise on debut at Navan last month.

The bottom line? It looks a great opportunity for Grimaud to break his duck and odds-against value is very fair as far as I'm concerned.

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