NAP of the Day: Believe in Boughey at Royal Ascot

There's five meetings taking place across the UK & Ireland on Tuesday, with the opening day of Royal Ascot the highlight.

I've already touched on my NAP of the Day in my Royal Ascot Day 1 Tips, but will now go into more detail about why I fancy her chances.

Is there a trainer in better form than George Boughey right now? I doubt it.

The Newmarket handler is, prior to his three engagements on Monday evening, operating at a seriously impressive 40% strike rate courtesy of 14 winners from 35 runners in the last fortnight.

That's music to my ears, as I'm sweet on his four-year-old filly BELIEVING in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

For the majority of her career, the daughter of Mehmas has been competing at Listed or Group 3 level, but she made her mark at the top table when finishing third, beaten by less than a length, in the G1 Sprint Cup at Haydock in September last year.

Admittedly, her subsequent efforts in the Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot in October and this term's reappearance in a Group 1 at Sha Tin were disappointing, but I think both runs can be excused to an extent. It was deep ground on Champions Day and she weakened quickly after travelling with menace, while little went to plan out in Hong Kong.

However, she bounced back to form when fairly bolting up in the Listed Achilles Stakes at Haydock last time out. In fact, that was a career-best showing in my book.

She comfortably beat the likes of Commanche Falls (rated 110), Korker (106) and Pink Crystal (103), while Live In The Dream (115) could only manage a remote fifth. Strong form in the context of this relatively modest crop of sprinters, I'd say.

That run on Merseyside was just her second-ever over the minimum trip of five furlongs and she appeared to absolutely relish it, so I'm optimistic there's more to come in that regard.

Added confidence is provided by her trainer's recent comments. Boughey has said he plans to turn Believing out again on the Saturday of Royal Ascot, all being well, in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Has she been working the house down, I wonder?

What about her 16 rivals on Tuesday afternoon? Big Evs heads the 15:45 Royal Ascot Odds at time of publication and although he does possesses a fair amount of potential, I wasn't too impressed by his first run at three and this is the biggest test of his career to date.

Regional is a consistent sort and is feared, as are plenty of these, but if Believing can at least reproduce her latest effort she must have an excellent chance at what rates an attractive price.

Find our NAP of the Day here at Betfred Insights