What is a nap?
A nap is the single bet a tipster rates highest on a given day. A racing correspondent might give a dozen selections across an afternoon's cards, but only one of them is the nap: the horse they would back if they could back only one.
British and Irish newspapers have printed a daily nap in their racing columns since the nineteenth century, and the format survives online. Sites like Racing TV and OLBG run daily "nap of the day" sections, and naps tables track which tipster's naps have returned the most profit over a season.
Where the word comes from
The term comes from Napoleon, a Victorian card game usually shortened to Nap. Declaring "nap" meant committing to win every trick in the hand — the boldest call a player could make. Racing writers borrowed the word for the same reason: the nap is the tip you stake your reputation on.
Nap and NB
Tipsters usually publish the nap together with an NB, short for "next best" — the second-strongest pick of the day. If the nap is the headline, the NB is the subheading.
Is a nap more likely to win?
A nap is a statement of confidence, and tipsters get them wrong all the time. Naps tables exist precisely because results vary so much between tipsters. Treat a nap as one informed opinion, and never bet more than you can afford to lose.
Curious about the rest of the vocabulary — each-way, SP, ante-post, accumulators? See the betting glossary.
BetNap.com is for sale
Six letters, two syllables, and a .com held continuously since 2007 — with a name that already means something to anyone who follows racing. The domain suits a tipping service, a racing media brand, or an odds product aimed at the UK and Irish market.
There is no asking price listed and no urgency to sell. Serious offers get a reply within a few days. The transfer itself is handled through a neutral escrow service, so both sides are protected.