Nap of the Day: Rukaana set for second success

There are three meetings that make up Monday's quota in Britain, with afternoon action over the jumps preceding the evening's all-weather card.

Our Nap of the Day has been in good form for the Jonjo & AJ O'Neill yard of late and looks well placed to grab his second hurdles victory at Kempton.

A good Cheltenham Festival makes all the difference for many jumps yards and Jonjo & AJ O'Neill could reflect well on the Cotswolds showpiece this year.

It was a superb effort from them to train two winners and a third from seven runners at the meeting, particularly with none of them going off at shorter odds than 14/1.

Wilful winning the County Hurdle with Jonjo Jr doing the steering made for a real family affair and was the undoubted Cotswolds high-point for the Jackdaws Castle firm.

They will want to finish off the season in good style and could see a winner at Kempton on Monday afternoon in the form of RUKAANA in the Novices' Handicap Hurdle over two miles.

The five-year-old son of Dark Angel was a two-time winner on the Flat for Charlie Hills, reaching a rating of 79.

He was kept busy last season after joining this operation and ran some good races in nine starts over hurdles without getting his nose in front.

That was always likely to aid him as a second-season novice and he duly opened his account at Windsor (2m, good) on New Year's Day under Jonjo Jr.

They made smooth progress before coming clear to win that contest by six lengths. The runner-up won his next three starts and two more subsequent winners emerged from the beaten pack.

Rukaana went up 9lb and finished a close second at Catterick (1m7½f, soft) three weeks later, just edged out by the game Vampire Slayer in the final strides.

Again, that form has worked out well as the winner obliged again at Sedgefield soon after and has twice made the frame since from increased marks, while the fourth and sixth-placed runners were both next-time-out winners.

Rukaana has been bumped up another 4lb for his troubles to a mark of 100 and carries top-weight in this event, though his burden is eased by 5lb claimer Benjamin Macey taking over.

It doesn't look the strongest contest on paper and, given his recent efforts and those contests boasting positive formlines in the context of this race, Rukaana is a strong fancy to get his second hurdles success of 2026, with the prospect of a return to good ground also in his favour.

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