Nap of the Day: Thursday can bounce back to form after a break

It’s a quieter than usual Sunday of racing with Christmas on the horizon and it’s the last day of racing until the bumper schedule on Boxing Day.

There’s a jumps card at Fakenham, but we’ve focused on the Flat action from Lingfield, where our Nap may feel the benefit of a talented young rider’s 5lb claim in the opener on the all-weather card.

Today's Horse Races

11.30 Lingfield - Thursday @ 10/3

Talented apprentice riders can be well worth following throughout the season when they still have a decent sized claim and it’s hard to argue that young Tommie Jakes isn’t excellent value for the 5lb he can still claim at present.

He gets on board Thursday on Sunday afternoon, a filly who has made up for lost time this year, winning twice, having not made her debut until March at the age of four.

She progressed nicely through the ranks after her classified stakes win at Windsor in June, adding another success on the turf track at this venue, while she was unlucky not to add to her tally subsequently.

The filly hit the crossbar back at Windsor when only just caught on the line and it was a similar story when dropped back in trip at Epsom in September, beaten by only a head.

Her subsequent run in the Apprentices’ Derby back at the Surrey venue is worth forgiving, having been run on very testing ground, the most testing surface she had encountered by some distance.

The switch back to all-weather is probably in her favour and, while she remains on a career high handicap mark, Jakes’ 5lb claim will certainly help, particularly at this venue where he’s ridden winners.

Backing all of his rides at SP on the all-weather would have returned a healthy profit and if this filly is ready to go after an 84-day break, she should be firmly in the mix.

 Nap Of The Day, with Betfred Insights.