NAP of the Day: Look on the Wild Side Of Life at Southwell

Fingers crossed the rain eases and Southwell passes its 07:30 inspection on Thursday, for my NAP of the Day is due to run at the Nottinghamshire venue.

With the brilliant Harry Cobden booked, I suggest looking on the Wild Side Of Life...

Laura Morgan's WILD SIDE OF LIFE has so far failed to live up to his £60,000 price tag, but the lightly-raced six-year-old looks well-treated on his first try in handicap company in the 16:10 Southwell - a 0-110 handicap hurdle over an extended three miles.

The son of Soldier Of Fortune fetched that lofty sum following a classy PTP performance at Dromahane this time last year, having already shown plenty of ability in two very strong affairs between the flags - including when just five lengths behind emphatic Cheltenham Festival winner Ballyburn on his debut in that sphere.

His rules debut came in a competitive novice event at Wetherby in November, when he bumped into the now 131-rated and Grade 2-placed Cherie D'Am. Strong form, it goes without saying.

Such is the regard this horse is held in, he was then chucked into a Grade 2 at Cheltenham's November meeting but unseated his jockey at the sixth flight, which was far too early to draw any conclusions from.

Fast-forward a month and Wild Side Of Life had his sights significantly lowered, to a novices' hurdle at Sedgefield on Boxing Day, and again failed to get off the mark. It was another relatively promising effort, though, giving three pounds to the marginal winner who now has a mark of 117 and ending over a length in front of the 109-rated Kilbarry Hill, who was in receipt of a whopping 10 pounds.

That's modest form in the grand scheme of things, but in the context of Thursday's assignment it's quite strong and the booking of Jump Jockeys Championship-chasing Harry Cobden blended with a potentially lenient opening mark of 111 is quite the recipe.

One hundred days off the track and tackling this longer trip on likely heavy ground for the first time is of course a slight concern, but by the same token this is a very modest contest that shouldn't take all that much winning.

Hostile Hotelier and Innisfree Lass are in form but neither have the same scope as the lighter-raced selection, while both Faded Fantasy and Grove Road are noticeably out of form - and Barricane is ultimately untrustworthy.