9.2 OFFERS ABOUT UNIQUE BETDAQ RACE FORM: It’s a day for checking out the BETDAQ ante-post offers in the third in Daqman’s series on Cheltenham. But look out for action closer to hand on the BETDAQ-sponsored card at Kempton on Saturday, for which Daqman spots a horse with unique lines to form. Yet there were offers of 9.2 this morning.
THREE BET THURSDAY: DAQMAN has three bets on Thursday to go alongside his Kempton ante-post selections. His best bet today runs in the Listed race at Huntingdon.
THEATRE BETDAQ CHASE TOP ACT
Check out the form! One of my Fortune Cookies rates a good early position at 9.2 on BETDAQ in the BETDAQ Chase at Kempton on Saturday.
Tintern Theatre has already scored over the CD at Kempton. It was not only the manner of his success – ‘readily’ – but what he beat that makes him a standout.
The second horse home, Pilgrims Bay, had won Saturday’s race last year, and the third horse to finish, Theatre Guide, was the winner of it the year before!
Pilgrims had made the form look classy by running close up in the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury just before that second to Tintern Theatre in the Kempton contest over Christmas.
Tintern’s theatre of war is the fast track, although he ran well in the Peter Marsh at Haydock in January until tiring on very heavy ground.
He will get 11lb on Saturday from sequence winner, Acting Lass, and 17lb from the favourite in the BETDAQ market, Gold Present.
HARRY IN STAYERS’ HURDLE MOVE
Back or lay? Cheltenham Festival favourites present the same conundrum every year. Here I continue to check out some of the facts.
This is day three, Thursday, for which there were live BETDAQ markets this morning for JLT Chase, Ryanair, Stayers Hurdle, and Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.
There was a move this morning for Unowhatimeanharry in the Stayers Hurdle
1.30 Cheltenham, Thursday, March 15 (JLT Novices’ Chase) The last THREE winners have been favourite or co-favourite. The last FIVE have been Irish (if you include Jonjo O’Neill, who is as Irish as Barry Fitzgerald in Broth Of A Boy): Willie Mullins 3, Tony Martin 1.
2.10 Cheltenham, Thursday, March 15 (Pertemps Hurdle Final) ONE favourite in 10 years. The rest outsiders. David Pipe 2, Patrick Kelly 2
2.50 Cheltenham, Thursday, March 15 (Ryanair Chase) This has dynamic winners like Cue Card and in the last two years (W Mullins 2) Vautour and Un De Sceaux.
But just THREE favourites have won in the decade, so it’s not as easy as it looks. Subsequent Gold Cup winner, Don Cossack, was turned over in 2015.
3.30 Cheltenham, Thursday (Stayers Hurdle) You could say FIVE favourites out of 10 and you could say Paul Nicholls 4 as leading trainer. But in each case there were three and more repeat winners.
BETDAQ GUIDE: The 8-1 and 10-1 Penhill with bookmakers was well surpassed by 13.0 in the BETDAQ orange this morning. Uknowhatimeanharry, generally 12-1, was 18.0 on the exchange last night but offers were taken into 15.5 and 16.0 this morning.
4.10 Cheltenham, Thursday (Stable Plate) FAVOURITES BLANKED. Trainers are the usual suspects (David Pipe 3, Venetia Williams 3) for such a handicap yet huge prices for the winners: even 33-1 twice, 50-1 and 66-1.
4.50 Cheltenham, Thursday (Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle) TWO out of two favourtes. TWO out of two for Willie Mullins.
5.30 Cheltenham, Thursday (Kim Muir Amateur Riders’ Handicap Chase) TWO favourites. David Pipe 2. A key race for something later on, which I’ll tell you about next week.
RENE IS BEST OF THE GIRLS
4.05 Huntingdon A Listed mare’s chase the highlight on today’s Huntingdon card and despite the small field it looks competitive with half the field winners last time out.
At five, Got Away is the youngest in the field and renews rivalry with last year’s winner Antartica De Thaix – the pair were first and second in a three runner contest at Leicester last time out but the runner-up has a 7lb pull today and it’s hard to say in which order they will finish.
Desert Queen was a nine length second in this last year.
All three may struggle though against the in-form Rene’s Girl who fairly bolted home by an eased down 10 lengths at Doncaster last time out and connections seem to have now found her perfect trip.
4.30 Sedgefield It’s rare to see a handicap with so many runners so badly out of form as this.
As such, Derrydane looks something of a standout on the card. He failed to win under a penalty at Catterick last time out but still ran a solid race and finished 18 lengths clear of the third. Prior to that he was a 10 length winner at Catterick.
I’m more concerned though about the form of his rivals than I am about his current handicap mark. Nautical Twilight is short enough in the market for a horse that was beaten 45 lengths last time out and you can hardly back Discoverie with any confidence given he was pulled up last time here in a chase.
8.00 Chelmsford Brings together a nice field for this class 4 with four last time out winners. Preference is for Shamrokh who bids for a course hat-trick and beat a good sort last time.
Thaqaffa bids for a four-timer but only scraped home under a penalty at Kempton last time and this looks tougher.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20, except ante-post as stated)
BET 7.5pts win (nap) RENE’S GIRL (4.05 Huntingdon)
BET 8pts win DERRYNANE (4.30 Sedgefield)
BET 3.7pts win SHAMROKH (8.00 Chelmsford)
ANTE-POST: win-50 BULL’S-EYE BET: 6pts win TINTERN THEATRE (Betdaq Chase, Kempton, Saturday)
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.
