NAP of the Day: 7/2 shot to rule over Salisbury rivals

On a quiet Tuesday, it's a three-year-old maiden at Salisbury that piques my interest in regards to the NAP of the Day.

Here's why I fancy this aptly-named son of Camelot to reign over his 11 rivals at the Wiltshire venue.

This maiden contest over 1m4f looks competitive, but using process of elimination I found it relatively easy to whittle down the 11-strong field.

The sole debutant Be Like Pumpkin hails from a yard that have only had a handful of three-year-old runners with no winners in the last five years, while Tango Sunset, Shaad and Mr Cliff require near-miraculous improvement on what they've achieved to date.

Mawayed and Eben Zaabeel represent the powerful Shadwell Estate and they are as well-connected as they are bred so aren't ruled out quite as easily, but ultimately they too require a sizeable step forward.

Click the link for the latest 16:37 Salisbury Odds

Steel Tiger and Liam Swagger are probably the standard-setters and it wouldn't be a great surprise were either to finish first past the post, but there's very little to separate the pair and they're already looking a bit exposed and therefore vulnerable.

Pagan Sun is interesting. The form of his debut at Dundalk later last year for previous trainer Paddy Twomey gives him a fair chance in this company, but this is his first run in 228 days for a new yard which makes him difficult to advise.

That leaves just Leicester Square and CROWN OF INDIA.

The former is feared for top connections after a promising debut at Nottingham exactly three weeks ago. He should improve plenty for the run and I expect him to be competitive here, but the latter is marginally preferred.

Ed Walker's Camelot colt fetched €160,000 at the sales in September 2022 but he was beaten out of sight on his racecourse debut at Newmarket almost exactly a year later before a gelding operation and further 204 days off the track.

Clearly that did him the world of good as he returned with a highly-respectable third at Tuesday's venue, over a couple of furlongs shorter, last month.

Having been held up throughout, he made up an awful lot of ground to place in third, under a length behind the race-fit winner and runner-up while pulling 14 lengths clear of the nearest finisher.

That form looks decent in the context of this race and I believe there's a lot more to come from the selection, especially with that outing under his belt, up in trip again and with the fantastic Tom Marquand doing the steering.

Find our NAP of the Day here at Betfred Insights