NAP of the Day: Waterford Whispers to silence Leopardstown rivals

I’m doubling down on one of my tips for Leopardstown on Friday and making him the NAP selection too.

When it comes to the NAP of the Day, I usually try not to select something I’ve already advised elsewhere.

However, after studying all races on Friday there was one name that I just kept going back to – Waterford Whispers.

Henry De Bromhead’s five-year-old is a highly-progressive type who I suspect has been given a rather lenient opening mark.

That figure is 123, which looks very manageable indeed when you start looking through the son of Westerner’s form book.

His maiden win at Galway a couple of months ago was franked when Ataboycharlie won a 23-runner handicap hurdle off a mark of 111 at Leopardstown on Boxing Day – while on the same day Answer to Kayf, whom the selection beat fairly snugly at Fairyhouse the last day, was third, beaten just over a length, in a competitive Grade 2 at Limerick.

I’d say Waterford Whispers has already performed close to the level of a 130-rated horse and, as a thrice-raced individual, he still remains open to a serious amount of improvement.

On top of all that, I don’t think this looks a particularly deep race.

Yeats Star, Sequestered, Champagne Admiral and Barry Lyndon are respected, while Linden Arden looks dangerous if at his best – though the fact Paul Townend hasn’t chosen to ride the Willie Mullins inmate is a potential tell – but to put it bluntly I’d be pretty disappointed if Waterford Whispers isn’t up to winning this. He could prove much the best off this mark.