Nap of the Day: 5/2 shot can be our mate at Ffos Las on Tuesday

It was a tale of two halves, last week. Winners on Tuesday and Thursday, but frustration on Friday and Saturday despite the market talking in our favour. Swings and roundabouts in this game.

Hopefully it'll be another good start to a week for Nap of the Day followers this Tuesday, courtesy of one in West Wales for a local and very shrewd trainer.

I'm hoping it's the right time to catch I AIN'T YOUR MATE, who has all the makings of a very well-handicapped individual for Christian Williams.

Let's start with the breeding. The six-year-old is a son of Sea Moon out of the mare Revelate - a half-sibling to Celestial Gold and Fiveforthree. The former won the 2006 Aintree Bowl for David Pipe, while the latter won the Ballymore (now Turners) Novices' Hurdle at the 2008 Cheltenham Festival and World Series Hurdle at Punchestown in 2009.

So it was no surprise to see I Ain't Your Mate fetch £120k at the sales a couple of years ago, especially after his close second to Supreme fifth El Cairos in a point-to-point at Curraghmore a month prior.

A month before that, he wasn't disgraced behind He Can't Dance, now for Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown Stud, and Meetmebythesea, who landed the Jack Richards Novices' Handicap Chase at this year's Cheltenham Festival for Ben Pauling and JP McManus, at Monksgrange.

Absolutely none of that points to a 98-rated chaser - but this isn't uncommon for Williams' South Wales operation.

He was awarded an opening mark of 100 after three modest showings at Taunton, Doncaster and Wincanton, dropping a further two pounds for his exploits on chase debut in a Hereford handicap in January when last seen.

A big drifter before the off, he was held up from the word go and never in contention, plugging on past tired horses to finish fourth, a whopping 40 lengths off the pace. I wouldn't read much into that.

Of course, a similar performance is entirely possible. The plan might be to get another run and more experience into him with an eye to climbing the handicap ranks next year. Or maybe he's genuinely lost his way since those efforts between the flags.

I'm taking the step up to three miles as a sign of intention, though - and the early market movements. When I wrote this on Monday afternoon, he opened 16/1 with one particular firm. That's long gone. Frustrating, but encouraging at the same time.

I couldn't put anyone waiting for Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) in the morning, in case of another drift, but I'm taking the risk and backing him early, hoping the money continues to come. He could be a shoo-in if my thinking is correct. 'If' doing a lot of heavy lifting there...

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