14-1 WINNER MAKES THE DAY! Daqman, who scored with a 7-1 nap on Saturday, landed a 14-1 shot at Fairyhouse yesterday. Can he continue the big-odds run this evening with a nap offered at 10.0 on BETDAQ this morning.
WON 7-1 Birchwood (Saturday nap)
WON 14-1 Queen Catrine (Sunday)
MORE TO READ WITH DAQMAN: Look out this week for Daqman’s view of the two-year-old form, an ABC guide to the Irish Oaks and Fortune Cookies update.
TRACKS MUST SOLVE THE SATURDAY GLUT
The year’s going by fast. And, as if we didn’t have enough of them on Saturday, next Saturday is packed with sprints again.
On the eve of the Irish Oaks, The Curragh has the Scurry Handicap (6f) and the Sapphire Stakes (5f). And Newbury has the Weatherbys Super Sprint (5f) for a purse of £250,000 plus.
But Saturday is still a slimline day compared with the pile-up of handicaps we’ve just had, with the clash of Ascot, Newmarket, Chester and York on the same Saturday. Sunday? Nothing.
Of course, the tracks all want a Saturday. But surely it’s obvious that you thin the attendances across such an abundance of major meetings. The commercial betting product is spread thinly, too, and the big fields become small-stakes lotteries to most punters, faced with hundreds of horses to assess. Sprints are one of the biggest culprits for that.
We need a strategy for the Long Weekend in which Friday, Saturday, Sunday are linked across the country. Tickets for two of three meetings in a three-day spread should render the third one free.
Betting wise, a way to make such a weekend spread more cohesive would be a roll-up jackpot bet across the three days.
The new franchisees for terrestrial TV are considering their schedules, how to outdo Channel-4, as their time approaches, almost coincidentally with the end of Betfred’s hold on the Scoop6.
So, time for a gamble. A bigger and better racing jackpot over a long weekend. But get the tracks together on this to share revenue.
Once such a link is forged, the long weekend could feature bonuses for owners and trainers winning races across the cards on all three days.
Yes, the tracks would argue as to who has Saturday, but they could take turns at racing on each of the three days and try to outdo each other.
Isn’t competition what this is all about. Hardly viable if you’re all playing on the same pitch. It’s not rocket science. You simply get in each other’s way.
MONUMENTAL PRICE AT BETDAQ 10.0
3.45 Chelmsford The two best races today are on the AW at Chelmsford and Wolverhampton. Guess what? Sprints.
Front-runner Monumental Man (10.0 best offers on BETDAQ early mouse) has gone close twice this year and is now more than a stone below his last winning mark.
From stall 2, might just hang on from everybody’s choice, the winning Stuart Williams and Milly Naseb combo with Welease Bwian.
6.40 Wolverhampton Pat Cosgrave is 3-4 when riding for Ed Dunlop, and his mount looks best in a race of mules. At least Chestnut Storm ran on well over two furlongs shorter at Beverley.
7.10 Wolverhampton There are hidden horses here. Rocket Power, bred for sprinting, has been running over 7f. Ignore that.
Air Of York scored three times at the backend of last year at 5f-6f, including back-to-back success on today’s course, but has spent his last three starts over 7f and 1m.
It’s all helped bring his weight down to 10lb lower than he’s been all year. His trainer, David Evans, has saddled 100 winners on the course.
Ordinal won twice over 6f in the Spring, and a three-year-old won the first running of this race last year. I took 4.9 Ordinal and 12.0 Air Of York.
9.10 Wolverhampton These are the dogs and donkeys you have to live with if you want to survive until the Saturday mayhem:
Be Kool (dwelt; half reared start); Big Amigo (‘fly leapt, start’; ‘swerved left start’); Cleverconversation (‘swishing tail leaving stalls’).
So Much Fun and Sir Roger Moore both like to lead; Malakky is still a maiden (and ‘restless in the stalls’ is a worry for his first handicap).
Kylla Instinct may be the bet at 4.5 on BETDAQ. Narrowly beaten over 6f here at the end of last year; needed stamina to win first time back on turf over 7f.
DOWN-IN-CLASS DART CAN HIT THE BULL
7.30 Windsor My man in the long grass says that Mr Pocket (5.2 best offers on BETDAQ early doors) has been working so well that he may be straight enough to go in first time for the in-form Paul Cole.
9.00 Windsor Back-to-back winner in class 3 last summer, River Dart drops down a grade, with first-time blinkers applied: 10.0 on BETDAQ is wrong. Another sporting nap.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked 1 to 9 for strength; except the nap)
BET 2pts win and place MONUMENTAL MAN (3.45 Chelmsford)
BET 8pts win CHESTNUT STORM (6.40 Wolverhampton)
BET 6pts win ORDINAL, AND 2pts win and place AIR OF YORK (7.10 Wolverhampton)
BET 5pts win KYLLA INSTINCT (9.10 Wolverhampton)
BET 4pts win MR POCKET (7.30 Windsor)
NAP (BET to win 30 points): 3pts win and place RIVER DART (9.00 Windsor)
£25 IN FREE BETS
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