Nap of the Day: Carroll’s upped the ante again – and shows no signs of slowing

The weather put paid to the only Jumps offering on Wednesday, so I'm making a rare visit to the all-weather in the middle of winter for the Nap of the Day.

My eye is drawn to one at Kempton for a trainer bang in-form with a top jockey booked to do the steering.

What a start to the year for Tony Carroll, following a record-breaking 2025 courtesy of 128 winners and over £1m in prize money.

The all-weather champion trainer has sent out 22 horses since New Year's Day and seven of them have obliged. That's a strike rate of around 32%. Impressive.

It bodes very well for my Nap of the Day - UP THE ANTI in a seven-furlong handicap at Kempton.

The four-year-old daughter of Holy Roman Emperor is in the form of her life, finishing dead last at Southwell two starts ago aside.

She finished a close second in a couple of Class 6 contests at Bath and Ffos Las in September and has won two of her four starts since - including at Kempton last time out.

Off a mark of 57, she made up a serious amount of ground from out the back to beat a relatively decent field by half a length. It was a patient ride and come the line she was well on top, shaping like there's more to come.

A three-pound rise looks manageable, especially given the form of the yard and the eye-catching booking of Oisin Murphy. He can bring about further improvement.

The step up in trip, having won over six furlongs last time out, will be no problem. In fact, it might even suit her more, given the way she finished on her recent visit to the Surrey venue and her form over just shy of a mile on heavy ground.

It's also a step up in class, but I don't think it's a particularly strong race for the grade.

Lerwick is the main danger. Mark Loughnane's six-year-old sets the standard in this field and should give another good account of himself, but he's winless in 16 starts spanning back to the summer of 2024.

Another two of her nine rivals - namely Danehill Star and Gundogan - are stablemates, but the presence of the Champion Jockey on the selection suggests we're on the right one.

Maid In Chelsea and Triggerman are others to be wary of, but I'm hoping the younger, progressive Up The Anti can continue her trainer's fine form.

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