IS THE HERO BACK TO FORM? A winner a day, Greek Canyon (WON 11-2) on Monday and Heartbreak Hero (nap, WON 8-11) in last night’s BETDAQ races at Windsor, have put Daqman’s head in front this week. He wants more.
OPEN DOOR TO 200 WINNERS: Says Daqman: ‘There are 30 English meetings, plus the two-day Irish Oaks festival at The Curragh during the rest of the week. That’s around 200 shots. It makes Royal Liverpool’s 72 holes look easy!’
ROCK AT 6.4 LOOKED IRRESISTIBLE
Trainers are creatures of habit. It’s one of the edges we must use as punters as, year on year, they reveal similar strategies with the same opening gambits.
The usual ploys are obvious: run them ‘educationally’ in maidens, win with them in handicaps; place them over the wrong trip on the wrong ground, win with them when conditions are right. That sort of thing.
Then there are trainers who do particularly well at one meeting: yes, it’s nearly Goodwood time, Mark Johnston; see you at Galway, Dermot Weld!
BATH When I looked at the Bath opener (2.15), I thought I was reading a National Hunt racecard: Captain Oats 11-10-0.
In fact, the old boy won here over CD a month back. Incredibly, that was his only success in nearly nine years, since his career was launched 35 races ago in August 2005, and not until now has he returned to the dizzy heights of a 60 rating since November, 2006.
The secret to his success seems to be 33 prep runs and rock-hard ground. That’s not the kind of training pattern I had in mind, when I talked of stable habits!
But there is a trainer in the race who is known for his trends: he hits a winning streak at just one or two stages of the season, and he goes only to certain tracks for his handicap hits.
He is Marcus Tregoning and he’s in form after a long lean spell with currently 12013110, and one of those ‘hot hits’ meetings is Bath: for example, he is two from two in the last five years in handicaps like this opener.
The Racing Post ’Spotlight’ comments that his Sweeping Rock has patchy form; well, it would, wouldn’t it, while Marcus was in the mire. Now the sun shines out.
I found the 6.4 in the BETDAQ orange about Sweeping Rock irresistible, with a lay Captain Oats creating a double whammy in the very first punt of the day.
Robert Cowell is an expert trainer of sprinters, a reputation based on the exploits of such notables as Kingsgate Native.
He turns out Speed Hawk (3.15) very quickly, after his finishing close up at Ascot on Saturday, attempting to boost a stable record on today’s course of 55% (6-11).
Umneyati hasn’t been seen since she flopped in the Cornwallis last October but her stable is in form, and of course any William Haggas runner as lightly raced as Jacob’s Pillow ‘could be anything’ and the runner-up in his maiden win at Yarmouth has scored by six lengths since.
BEVERLEY The Watt Memorial (3.30) hasn’t had a name change in 129 years. Crying out for a sponsor for more than a century, eh, Nigel?
I know Nigel Payne well. He was once lucky enough to be involved with the winner of a big race called Earth Summit. It’s a famous race for steeplechasers run over four-and-a-half miles at Liverpool, which Nigel once helped Ladbrokes to save because it’s a national treasure.
Now what’s it called? Give me a minute, and I’ll remember. Er.. let me think; was it the 23Blue Cup? Nah, name doesn’t ring a bell, somehow. But it probably would after 129 years. Or in the case of that national chase, 175 years.
Good to see another race name, the Dorothy Laird Memorial (5.30), appearing for the second time in honour of the great supporter of ladies in racing.
Again today – a strange double across the Flat cards – we have a runner of a double figure age with a big weight (Snow Dancer 10-10-2), an enormous task for jockey Lucy Alexander.
It would be regarded as sexist if I said that Sarah Brotherton rides like a man. Just a slight change of words to ‘rides better than a man’ and my opinion may be permitted. And very relevant.
Sarah toyed with this race a year ago, taking City Ground into the lead, slowing down the pace, then resisting all-comers as she pulled out more when the challenges came. I took 5.1 this morning that she can do it again on the same horse.
THIRSK Back to Robert Cowell, who trains close to my old watering hole in Six Mile Bottom near Newmarket. He may have another sprint star in embryo here, Oasis Mirage (6.40), obviously an Oasis Dream filly.
She is certainly worth a bet here, with the early-mouse second favourite, Fredericka, having a record of 0-14, and the third in the BETDAQ market this morning, Bifocal, trained by Ian Semple, whom I knew at John Dunlop’s in the good old bad old days.
Sorry to report that Ian is going through a very lean time in his third (or is it fourth) spell as a trainer, currently near the top of the ‘cold’ list with 61 losers in 330 days.
DAQMAN’S BETS (each bet is staked to win 20 points, except the lay)
LAY 5pts CAPTAIN OATS, and BET 3.7pts win SWEEPING ROCK (2.15 Bath)
BET 4.8pts win CITY GROUND (5.30 Beverley)
BET 13.5pts win (nap) OASIS MIRAGE (6.40 Thirsk)
NEW !!!
You can now follow BETDAQ updates on Google+
For further details – CLICK HERE
£25 NO LOSE FREE BET
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
