Nap of the Day: Archivist can record maiden victory

It was the perfect start to Betfred Derby week for Nap of the Day followers, courtesy of Monday's 5/2 winner.

Fingers crossed for more of the same on Tuesday, as I back a four-time runner-up to finally get the job done.

I usually steer clear of horses with a sequence of 2s next to their name, but surely Tuesday is the day ARCHIVIST gets off the mark.

William Haggas' three-year-old is winless in five starts to date, finishing runner-up on four of those occasions, but if you look closely at the rivals he's faced, it's easy to look at the Cheveley Park-owned son of Dubawi in a kinder light.

After a modest debut at Lingfield in July last year while under the care of the retired Sir Michael Stoute, the 600k guineas-buy was just a length-and-a-half behind subsequent Group 3 winner and Arc entry Starzintheireyes (rated 108) at Leicester in September.

Just over a fortnight later he bumped into Seaplane (105) at Newmarket - and then on his final appearance at two he was runner-up again to Listed-winning filly Smoken (95) at Nottingham.

He wasn't seen again until his return to course and distance this April, having joined Haggas' Newmarket base in the meantime.

Once again, it was another second-placed finish for Archivist, who was no match for Charlie Appleby's 5/4f Secret Theory (97). The Racing Post race-reader suggests he 'did well in the circumstances' and after watching it back, I agree with their assessment.

He was much too fresh throughout the contest and struggled to find a gap when travelling up behind the eventual third and fourth on approach to the two-furlong pole. Once the space appeared, he finished strongly under claimer Harry Burns.

With that run under his belt and stable jockey Tom Marquand taking over in the saddle, I'm expecting a fair bit of improvement.

Unless Ralph Beckett's unraced Charming Princess is well above average, or one of Clouds Hill or Silent Storm takes a sizeable step forward, the selection ought to take all the beating here. It's now or never for this one.

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