NAP of the Day: A winning return to the Scene?

Tuesday's NAP is a lightly-raced and improving seven-year-old who's taken to make it 2-2 over fences as he returns to the scene of his successful chasing debut.

What initially drew me to Lucy Wadham's Scene One for this 0-125 handicap chase over 2m5f was the presence of jockey Bryony Frost.

The 28-year-old is, in my humble opinion, criminally underrated. She was excellent last week - most notably with her efforts on Twinjets and Il Ridoto - and seems to be riding with a fair bit of confidence at present.

For me, having her on board is very much an advantage in these female jockeys' races.

That's not the only angle for the selection, of course. Her mount is starting to build a progressive profile that suggests he's ahead of his current mark of 111.

The seven-year-old showed precious little in four runs during the first half of last season, but he started to put it together back in April, culminating in a duck-breaking victory at Warwick.

He then went on his summer break, before returning with a pretty straightforward success on his chasing debut over course and distance. That was off 108, although the selection was carrying two pounds overweight - so in theory he's only a pound higher on Tuesday, which seems very generous indeed.

There should be a lot more to come from this horse, who I thought won with a fair bit of authority the last day. He should not only strip fitter for the run, but he's so lightly-raced - especially over fences - too.

Of his six rivals, I fear Yccs Portrocervo the most. Perhaps he's in the grasp of the handicapper, but I don't fancy writing him off too quickly for underperforming in a highly-competitive race like the Grand Sefton.

William Cody will have his supporters, I'm sure. He also benefits from an excellent pilot in Gina Andrews, but it has to be off-putting that he's gone up five pounds since the start of November for a couple of defeats - while Georges Saint, who was a winning NAP of the Day last month, seems to need everything in his favour which doesn't appear to be the case here.