NAP of the Day: Board the Ventura Express at Beverley

Frustration is the word to describe the week so far. On Tuesday, the NAP of the Day was a non-runner at the 11th hour after being backed like defeat was out of the question. Twenty four hours later, it was an 11/8 shot that went off odds-on but failed to justify it.

I feel we're due a bit of luck, which hopefully arrives on Thursday at Beverley.

Beverley thrills are promised on Thursday, courtesy of a 0-80 handicap over five furlongs at the Yorkshire venue. Blink and you'll miss it.

I suspect I'm Next, trained by local legend Tim Easterby, will be all the rage in the betting, but I'm quite keen to take him on.

The son of Ardad was runner-up to a smart sort over course and distance earlier this month and he's only four years old, so he's open to plenty of improvement.

However, this is quick turnaround of just eight days. Eight is the number of the stall he'll emerge from, too. Not ideal round here.

On top of that, his trainer's operating at a strike rate of just 3% in the past fortnight, courtesy of just a couple of winners from 67 runners.

It's also a pretty competitive field he's up against, featuring VENTURA EXPRESS for Paul Midgley. That's my idea of the winner.

Nine years old, it's fair to say the son of Mayson has been around the block, yet he remains enthusiastic about his racing. He loves it at Beverley, too. Form figures of 112 attest to that.

He made an encouraging return to action from a two-month break at Newcastle last month, finishing a neck third to Michael Appleby's Juan Les Pins. The winner's held his form extremely well in the meantime, rising another couple of pounds in the handicap for a victory among two placed efforts - one of those in a Class 3 at Newbury last time out.

Ventura Express races off the same mark (77) in East Riding of Yorkshire on Thursday and crucially, he's got the plum draw. Stall number one. Result.

He tends to be ridden off the pace, but surely jockey Jason Hart, who's got plenty of experience, will be planning to take advantage of his starting berth and bounce out in front, or at least just off the pace.

If able to so, he could be tough to peg back and might just achieve his first win in coming up to two years. The last one? At Beverley. Over the minimum trip. At 4/1...

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