Nap of the Day: 5/2 Bull to take charge of Lingfield maiden

There's no Jumps racing on Thursday so it's a rare winter visit to the Flat for the Nap of the Day.

My eyes are drawn to a once-raced three-year-old who's taken to down a likely odds-on favourite in the fourth race at Lingfield.

Left Over Love is likely to be all the rage for this six-furlong maiden on the Polytrack at Lingfield, but I'm taking her on with Andrew Balding's CHARGING BULL.

The three-year-old is a son of Blue Point out of American mare Landmark - responsible for multiple 100+ rated horses including Group 2 winner Solid Stone - who fetched €60k (£50k) at a breeze-up in May last year.

It wasn't until the first week of December that he made his racecourse debut, finishing three-and-a-half lengths off the pace in sixth.

I thought he shaped a lot better than the bare result, travelling stylishly under Champion Jockey Oisin Murphy who went for home approaching the furlong pole while going as well, if not better than all of his 12 rivals.

He was soon upside the eventual winner but tired in the closing stages, fading to the rear of the front pack under hands and heels. That isn't unusual for Balding runners on their first day at school, so plenty of improvement is expected with that outing under his belt.

The form of that race in Surrey is a clear standout in this six-strong field.

The winner had the benefit of a run having finished second to the 93-rated Good Banter at Wolverhampton a month prior, while the runner-up was a close enough third behind a 79-rated yardstick at Doncaster. The third was a typically well-bred Godolphin colt, while the fourth won his subsequent start.

Meanwhile, I'm very sceptical of the form Hannon's filly brings to the table. She was second in a fillies' novice over seven furlongs at Wolverhampton, but the 7/1 winner was allowed to go off 40/1 before a tame effort on debut at Newmarket in November.

The third and fourth boasted nothing more than average form coming into the race, while the fifth was nine lengths behind the selection at Kempton. It would be unwise to take that line so literally, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Of course, she's also entitled to improve, but I fancy there's more to come from the Nap who already sets the standard in my book.

The other four runners are hard to fancy. Hint Of Humour's form is modest and he doesn't look open to much improvement, while Boundless Poet, Kiniro and Jorp must leave previous efforts a long way behind.

It's fair to say it looks a match between the top two in the betting, and I'm backing Charging Bull to win it.

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