Nap of the Day: Derek’s presence can count at Catterick

Unfortunately, Tuesday's selection was a non-runner so we didn't get a chance to follow up our weekend winner.

Hopefully we can do so 24 hours later instead, as we go to Catterick for the Nap of the Day.

It's interesting that Derek O'Connor, one of the great amateur jockeys, comes to North Yorkshire on Wednesday to ride PRESENTANDCOUNTING for Donald McCain in a hunters' chase over 3m1f.

I envisage it being a worthwhile trip for the Galway native, who I presume is gearing up for the Cheltenham Festival next week.

His mount - an 11-year-old son of Presenting - takes on five rivals in Catterick's finale, but to be frank there's only two I'm concerned about.

One of those is Tim Vaughan's Eva's Oskar, who just over two years ago was winning Premier Handicaps at Cheltenham. Since then, he's raced just six times and shown clear signs of regression, dropping 13lbs from a mark of 143 to 130.

He did manage to win at Bangor last time out, although he looked booked for second until the eventual runner-up made a bad mistake at the last, causing the jockey to lose her irons.

He is, as the odds suggest, the main danger - while a much slighter chance is given to third-favourite Ask A Honey Bee.

The fellow 11-year-old was a solid horse for Fergal O'Brien in his heyday, but his form petered out towards the end of his time in the Cotswolds and a 558-day layoff suggests an issue or two between his final run for O'Brien and first for Myles Osborne.

That's not a name I'm familiar with, but a quick bit of research shows a trainer with just five runs (no wins) under rules this year. Go further back and it's only 26 runs (still no wins).

That being said, there's been a little bit of encouragement in Ask A Honey Bee's runs for new connections, though ultimately not enough to suggest he can beat the likes of Presentandcounting, who's recent form is incomparable.

Just two starts ago, in November last year, the selection won a Class 3 handicap over Wednesday's course and distance by a mere 18 lengths, beating an odds-on favourite who had the only other runner 33 lengths adrift.

I assume there'd been a setback in the 84 days he then spent on the sidelines, so I'm willing to forgive his slightly underwhelming effort at Fakenham last month. I say slightly as it's still thoroughly decent form.

That ought to have put him spot on for this and as already suggested, the booking or Mr. O'Connor is a major positive that suggests a bold bid is expected. I'm confident that's the least we'll get.

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