17.0 ‘DREAM’ DAQMAN OUTSIDER: Not a dream but the tipping reality of a double dare as Daqman opposed the form twice at The Curragh yesterday, asking a 17.0 outsider to turn round the Irish Lincoln placings in a Group 3 and then laying that a Ballydoyle odds-on filly would lose. Both correct. His day was:
WON: 2nd 12-1 (win and place) Octane
WON: 9-1 (Betdaq 17.0) Onenightidreamed
WON: (lay) 3rd 9-10 favourite Found
NOW IT’S SEVEN LAYS IN A ROW: Found gave Daqman a sequence total of seven consecutive winning lays:
WON (lay) Cold As Ice (unplaced 4-6 favourite)
WON (lay) Lancelot Du Lac (2nd 4-1)
WON (place lay) John Reel (unplaced 12-1)
WON (lay) Mister Universe (unplaced 7-1)
WON (lay) Kayf Moss (2nd 4-1)
WON (lay) Space Oddity (4th 11-4 favourite)
WON (lay) Found (3rd 9-10 favourite)
GRAND NATIONAL COUNTDOWN: The search is on: clues for winners at the Liverpool three-day meeting that could culminate in Grand National success. Here’s the first-day’s peep at the action and what’s on for the rest of the week.
STARTING THE SEARCH FOR LIVERPOOL GOLD
TODAY: How to cash in on the Willie Mullins favourites
TOMORROW: Where the Aintree Festival winners come from
WEDNESDAY: ABC Guide to the Grand National
THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY: The Aintree Festival
Aintree, here we come! After the false start to our Pot Of Gold bet, thanks to misleading information about track conditions at Doncaster, the new Daqman punt will be to play the bet for triple-value at the Aintree Festival.
It’s going to be Cheltenham all over again with Willie Mullins trying to wrest the English trainers’ title with what will certainly be short-priced horses.
One answer will be to look for flaws in his armour, where he will be value to oppose, when his horses are at short odds simply because they are there! Like Aidan O’Brien and the Found lay yesterday.
THURSDAY: There is no Mullins runner in the Red Rum Chase but it could still belong to Ireland, with Gordon Elliott currently responsible for the three topweights, Clarcam, The Game Changer and Bright New Dawn.
But this pushes down the weights in this 2m handicap chase for two other probably Irish raiders, Viconte De Noyer and Dandridge for Henry De Bromhead and Arthur Moore.
FRIDAY: How’s this for confidence. Nicky Henderson tries to fight off a triple Willie Mullins challenge in the Topham Trophy (over the National fences) with just one horse: Cocktails At Dawn his only runner.
Cocktails at Dawn will be defending a terrific Henderson record in the race, including a hat-trick with the last three winners.
His 2014 and 2015 successes came with quality horses – Ma Filleule and Rajdhani Express – off 150 and 152, carrying 11st 7lb and 11st 8lb. On Friday ‘Cocktails’ has 11st 8lb off 153.
Reads like a canny Henderson know-your-horses plot! He can read a race months ahead, the greatest of all training skills. But who’s got a similar idea for the National?
SATURDAY The big one! And Willie already has an edge on everyone else. From 96 acceptors, his quintet are all certain to run if he wants them to, four in at number 21 at the very lowest, and one on 39 which is usually a goer at this stage.
NAP HOBBS TO STRIKE EARLY
No one likes early Monday meetings. Unless of course we are talking about race meetings and there is a good bet in the first race of the card.
Phillip Hobbs could well have the answer to the opener at Warwick with Bacchanel who has finished placed in all four of his bumper starts and can make a successful transition to hurdles.
The Chepstow bumper in which he finished third last time out looks half decent and the stable are ticking along quite nicely.
The Venetia Williams trained Buttercup ran well here over today’s trip in January but has subsequently disappointed. Even allowing for the fact she contested a Listed mares hurdle at Doncaster last time out it was a poor effort with her being tailed off and pulled up. After that she can hardly be backed with confidence coming into this.
MIDDLEHAM’S SPEEDING JUVENILES
Mark Johnston has made a stunning start to the new season with his two-year-olds. So much so, that his The Last Lion was sent off at odds on for the Brocklesby at Doncaster and despite the wretched ground still managed to win impressively.
He also sent out Chupalla to win easily on debut at Kempton – beating Stormy Clouds by six lengths. With the benefit of that experience Richard Hannon’s Stormy Clouds is back at Lingfield today but Johnston has another debutant that she might need to worry about in Rusumaat.
This son of Arcano cost £45,000 as a yearling and I fully expected him to be favourite for this. At the time of writing he is 3.55 over 2.16 Stormy Clouds and such is the Mark Johnston force at present I want to be a player even with, or perhaps I should say ‘especially with’ a debutant.
KING OF THE BUMPERS
Alan King is going through a frustrating period. Whilst his winner strike-rate is low he is getting quite a few places and surely the winners will flow again soon.
His last winner came in a Haydock bumper and he could strike in the first division of today’s bumper at Warwick with Azzerti who wasn’t given a hard time but went into my notebook on debut at Kempton when finishing fourth.
He is preferred to the Nicky Henderson trained River Of Intrigue who was second in the Fontwell mud on debut.
DAQMAN BETS (staked 1 to 9 for strength)
BET 8pts win (nap) BACCHANEL (2.00 Warwick)
BET 5pts win RUSUMAAT (2.20 Lingfield)
BET 5pts win AZZERTI (5.00 Warwick)
£25 IN FREE BETS
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