NAP of the Day: 11/4 shot to get off the mark at Newcastle

Wednesday's winner, who drifted to a lovely SP of 6/4, takes us to 2-2 for the week with my NAP of the Day column.

Can we land the hat-trick on Thursday? Here's who's fancied to do exactly that.

The very first of Today's Horse Races is the opener at Newcastle - a 0-85 handicap over 1m4½f on the Tapeta.

Six three-year-olds go to post and according to the 14:00 Newcastle Odds it's a very open contest.

I must admit, I expected James Ferguson's GULF LEGEND to be favourite, so it's a very pleasant surprise that he's the price he is at time of publication.

The Dubawi colt, who's a half-brother to last season's G1 Prix de Paris winner Feed The Flame, ran just once as a juvenile and although he finished sixth of eight, beaten over four lengths, he showed a good bit of promise in defeat.

Enough promise to justify the €300,000 he fetched at the sales back in August 2022? Perhaps not, but he certainly displayed enough to suggest better days were ahead.

His return this season came in a Newbury maiden last month and under the circumstances - inexperience, lack of fitness, first try at the trip - it was another promising effort.

The selection then went to Haydock, stepped up even further to an extended 1m3f, and finished a clear runner-up to a nice type of Andrew Balding's called Subsequent. He won a handicap at Salisbury about 30 minutes before I published this off a mark of 84, so again that form looks strong.

An opening mark of 80 could underestimate Gulf Legend, who has hardly been given a difficult start to life in the handicap ranks.

Extra Beat won nicely on his handicap debut last time out, but this looks tougher and he's four pounds higher. Swordstick is probably the selection's main danger in my eyes, after a credible effort at Chester following a gelding operation, but I'm not so certain he's particularly well-handicapped. The other three are hard to advise in my book.

Hopefully the excellent Saffie Osborne can guide Gulf Legend to glory here and make it three winning NAPs on the trot.

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