Nap of the Day: Double Powerful can surge to victory at Chepstow

I'm a fan of both codes, but the Jumps has a special place in my heart and so I can't wait for the Welsh Racing Festival at Chepstow, which gets underway on Friday.

My Nap of the Day comes from the Welsh venue, in a good-looking novices' chase over just shy of three miles.

If my memory serves me well, Neil Mulholland made a strong start to last season - and there's signs of him following suit 12 months later.

The Somerset handler, who's enjoyed a couple of winners from 11 runners in the past fortnight, sends seven to Chepstow on Friday, including DOUBLE POWERFUL who makes his chasing debut over 2m7½f.

You'd be hard pressed to find a more progressive hurdler than the six-year-old son of Ocovango, who climbed from a lowly mark of 76 in March last year to 134 following his run at the Grand National meeting at Aintree this April.

He won six of nine in that timeframe - and there's no disgrace about his three defeats by a combined two-and-three-quarter lengths.

The first of those was at Ascot just before Christmas, when he was just touched off by Nicky Henderson's East India Express, who is rated 14lbs higher after obliging in two of his subsequent three starts.

Likewise, his defeat to another Seven Barrows inmate, Aston Martini, was advertised by the latter winning a Listed event in Compiegne in May by a mere 10 lengths.

And how about his aforementioned appearance on Merseyside? He was third in the Grade 3 handicap off a career-high mark 131 on his first attempt over three miles plus.

Double Powerful looked every bit a stayer at Aintree, defying a lacklustre round of jumping and a patient ride to get within a length-and-a-half of the eventual winner.

If he takes to the bigger obstacles, which I'm optimistic about as a point-to-point recruit for a highly-capable yard, I see no reason why he can't continue his progression.

The market - for now - suggests Paul Nicholls' Welcom To Cartries is the selection's main danger. There's no doubt he has at least as much ability as his four rivals on a going day, but he's too inconsistent to trust.

Coco Mademoiselle, who's race-fit after victory at Worcester last month, can go well for the Skeltons, but she's penalised and this represents a step up in class.

Act Of Diplomacy has to concede even more weight after his string of wins over the summer and I feel this may be a step too far.

Knight Of Allen is open to any amount of improvement, but ultimately has over 10lbs to find on the market principals so is hard to advise.

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