Nap of the Day: A little bit of Mambo’s all I need

It was pleasing to see Mossy Fen Road get back up to beat Mondo Man, who cruised into the lead before displaying that questionable attitude I warned about, at Lingfield on Thursday. A welcome winner for Nap of the Day followers.

Hopefully it's more of the same on Friday. Introducing the selection in one, two, three, four, five...

I was quite keen on MAMBONUMBERFIVE ahead of his chasing debut at Aintree earlier this month, but Ben Pauling suggested the four-year-old would need the run and that was enough to put me off.

It turned out he didn't need to be 100% to oblige on Merseyside, beating a couple of older, fitter and more experienced rivals in Highlands Legacy and Glengouly by just under a length.

The latter has since come out and finished fourth in a competitive handicap at Cheltenham's November Meeting off two pounds higher. He probably would have finished closer too, but for a mistake at the final fence.

Mambonumberfive, who's raced just four times since moving to the UK from France after fetching a cool €450k in July last year, will "improve a ton" according to his trainer, who always speaks highly about the Grade 2-winning juvenile.

Pauling was especially bullish about the son of Born To Sea in a recent stable tour with Sporting Life. He said: “He is a massive, gorgeous individual that has got loads of scope and size. He is bound to be a smart chaser and he should be good enough to be winning graded races. He has got to find 25 pounds over fences, but he should find that no worries."

The Cheltenham handler also named the Wayward Lad at Kempton over Christmas as a target, which emphasises the esteem in which he's held at Naunton Downs.

If he's going to end up in such a race, he ought to continue to prove ahead of his mark which was raised five pounds to 133 after Aintree. I think that's very fair.

According to the betting, the selection's main rival for this novices' handicap over an extended two miles at Newbury on Friday is Captain Bellamy for Paul Nicholls. But the six-year-old is unreliable and has to defy a 252-day absence on chasing debut. That's a big ask against a horse with Mambonumberfive's credentials.

Palacio for the excellent Sam Thomas is a bigger danger as far as I'm concerned. He bolted up at Chepstow earlier this month on his first attempt over the bigger obstacles and the keen front-runner could be difficult to peg back if allowed an easy lead. However, he's got an eight-pound rise to contend with.

Bluey is another last-time-out winner who's got a hike in the weights to deal with. Seven pounds for landing a modest affair at Kempton seems harsh. I suspect she'll find this too hot.

Secret Des Dieux can't be ruled out under an inspired Sean Bowen, but I find Koapey and Mighty Bandit hard to advise.

With a run under his belt, a handy weight-for-age allowance and a huge amount of belief from his trainer, Mambonumberfive could be difficult to beat here.

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