Nap of the Day: Jena D’oudairies to keep Nicholls’ Worcester record in good health

There's a healthy chunk of racing action in store across the UK and Ireland on Tuesday with six meetings down for decision. Three come on the Flat – at Beverley, Chepstow and Killarney – alongside three over jumps from Worcester, Sligo and Sedgefield.

Tuesday's Nap of the Day runs for Paul Nicholls at Worcester, a track where the Ditcheat handler boasts a fairly impressive strike-rate.

Paul Nicholls has saddled 16 winners from just 53 runners at Worcester over the last five seasons, enough to give the Ditcheat handler a 30 per cent strike-rate and a +5.50 return off a level stake.

Nicholls has his team in good order right now, with two winners from six runners so far in May.

With the main body of the season just ended, things are typically quieter for his yard, and he sends a lone entrant to Worcester for this meeting.

The mare JENA D'OUDAIRIES is that runner, and she's fancied to make the trip worthwhile for Nicholls and stable jockey Harry Cobden.

The six-year-old is a bumper winner and after showing promise in hurdles runs at Wincanton and Taunton after Christmas in two of her first three runs, she got on the scoresheet upped in trip at Chepstow (2m3½f, good) in mid-March.

There were still real signs of inexperience in that contest. Cobden aimed to make it a stamina test in the home straight and got his rivals under pressure, but the mare wandered around significantly going to the final flight, offering hope to her rivals before she eventually put it to bed, winning by three lengths to shed the maiden tag.

She went for the Mares' Challenger Series Final Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham's April Meeting afterwards, racing off a mark of 112 in first-time cheekpieces, but was unable to see things out front and finished fourth in the end in that 2m4f Class 2 contest with £26k for the winner, not aided by a mistake that set her back at the second last.

Her sights are lowered now, back in a Class 4 event, and she should be right at home on the forecast good ground.

She has been eased 1lb by the handicapper, and this race simply doesn't have the same depth to it compared to that Cheltenham contest 26 days ago.

Ideally, she may even want further than this 2m4f trip before long, but Cobden should ensure stamina counts for plenty and he's got a fine chance to embellish the record of his Ditcheat boss at this West Midlands layout.

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