Nap of the Day: Owen’s best bet for Day 1 of the Betfred St Leger Festival

Tuesday's winner marked my fifth in seven selections for Nap of the Day followers in the past fortnight. That's a 71% strike rate - William Haggas numbers!

Fingers crossed the run continues as we go to Doncaster (where else?) on Thursday for the start of the Betfred St Leger Festival.

My idea of the best bet for the opening day of the Betfred St Leger Festival is WECHAAD in the nursery handicap over seven furlongs at 16:10.

Roger Varian's son of Oasis Dream is 13/2 at time of publication, which I believe to be excellent value. Each-way value, even, if that's the way you'd prefer to play it.

The Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum-owned colt made his racecourse debut in a red-hot maiden at Leicester back in May, finishing sixth of 13 - two places in front of the reopposing Mr Writer. More on him later...

Ahead of the selection in Leicestershire was the likes of Rock On Thunder (Gimcrack runner-up with a rating of 108), Egoli (93) and Calico Blue (91). A tough introduction, it's fair to say.

Sixty days later he went to Ascot and finished a much-improved third, by just over a length, to Charlie Appleby's Words Of Truth in another Class 2. That one is a possible runner in the G2 Mill Reef at Newbury in just under a fortnight, so once again it looks like we bumped into one.

Newbury was the location of the selection's latest appearance, in a Class 2 novice over seven furlongs. He finished runner-up this time, to a well-backed Andrew Balding inmate called Venetian Prince, who is out of brilliant broodmare Arabian Queen (responsible for See The Fire, Royal Playwright and Spirit Mixer). He looks useful too.

Given the company he's shared, I think an opening mark of 82 is more than workable as he goes handicapping for the first time.

Perhaps ambitiously, he still holds an entry for the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket next month. He'd have to do something out of the ordinary at Donny on Thursday to justify actually fulfilling that engagement, but it at least shows the regard in which he's held at Carlburg Stables.

The superb Silvestre De Sousa, who was aboard the selection at Ascot, returns to the saddle on Thursday and I give the pair every chance of scooping the £18k prize.

Of his 10 rivals, it's the aforementioned Mr Writer that I fear the most. He looks a good bit better than his mark of 78 and if the gelding operation he underwent in July has its desired effect, he's undoubtedly the main danger.

Karl Burke is a magician with these two-year-olds, so last-time-out winner Reverberate is respected also, but I believe the likes of Crown Of Light, Special Dividend and Moonfall lack juice in their marks.

It's competitive fare, of course it is, but I think Wechaad has as good a chance as any in the field, despite the market suggesting otherwise.

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