WINNER-A-DAY QUEST MUST TAKE IN AINTREE MEETING: After 37 winners in an 18-day sequence earlier in the month, Daqman has nine in the six days of his latest winner-a-day quest which will have to score daily right through beyond the Grand National if it is to break the record and land more generous BETDAQ offers.
Yesterday
WON 7-2 Lady Kyria
WON 6-4 Generous Day
Wednesday
WON 3-1 Dragon Sun (6.0 BETDAQ)
WON 9-4 Shanghai Grace (4.0 BETDAQ)
Tuesday
WON 1-2 Steely Addition (supernap)
Monday
WON 5-6 Gumball (supernap)
Sunday
WON 20-1 Western Dawn (Irish Flat opens)
Saturday
WON 9-2 Chic Name (8.2 BETDAQ)
WON 9-2 Winston C (6.8 BETDAQ)
TRAINERS WHO ARE PLOTTING THE WEEKEND PRIZES: Today Daqman reckons trainers plans can prompt winning bets: whether the early-bird stables for Doncaster, the new champion’s Sunday trip to Ascot, Philip Hobbs return to form or an Irish winner’s trip back to Wetherby.
CATCH THE EARLY-BIRD STABLES
Here are winners waiting to be backed! It’s a hot list based on 10 years research for tomorrow’s big-race day at the Doncaster opening of the English Flat season.
You’ve seen my Early Bird horses. Now I recommend you follow the early-bird trainers who are saddling this list of runners tomorrow.
Their stables grab the early prizes year in year out, led by Richard Fahey (8 in the decade), Richard Hannon (6) and Roger Varian (4), with a supporting cast of Marco Botti, Michael Dods, Mick Easterby, William Haggas, John Gosden and David O’Meara, who all had two or more.
2.25 Doncaster Brian The Snail, Calvados Spirit, Fayez, Gulf Of Poets.
3.00 Doncaster Gabrial, Red Starlight, Remarkable, Sharja Bridge.
3.35 Doncaster Auxerre, Great Prospector, Humbert, Waarif, Wahash
4.10 Doncaster Bendy Spirit, Hell Of A Joker, Show Me Show Me
4.45 Doncaster Allocator, Ho Whole Dream, Just You Wait, Soft Summer Rain
5.20 Doncaster Andok, Contrast, Dark Devil, Kannapolis.
DRAW: Middle to high usually best over straight mile
NICHOLLS PLANS ASCOT RECORD
Who’s that with the champion trainer? There’s a party planned for the royal racecourse on Sunday, but the selfies were taken in advance at a quiet celebration yesterday when The Queen visited the Manor House Stables at Ditcheat.
Paul Nicholls was showing off the stable team of horses and lads that has won back the trainers’ championship from Nicky Henderson, giving him his eleventh title.
But the champagne for Nicholls’ 3,000th winner is on ice until Sunday at Ascot. Punters be warned that Paul has no fewer than TEN horses with 11 engagements at the meeting that day.
He means to party well in advance of the Aintree Grand National meeting, which was never his favourite venue.
The Queen must have had my Fortune Cookies list in her handbag when she specifically checked out Frodon and Cyrname. Good judge!
HOBBS FOR FONTWELL DOUBLE
Hobbs is hot again. The Somerset trainer has had to do battle with local heroes David Pipe and then Paul Nicholls over the years in 18 seasons with Richard Johnson steering the kingpins among around 2,600 winners from the Minehead stables.
Hobbs is low on star material right now, but you can only win with what you’ve got and he has just one horse currently in the yard that has made four-figures in prizemoney, J P McManus’s Defi Du Seuil.
But little fish are sweet and skilful placing has hooked Hobbs 11 winners in the last 10 days to take his score to two short of the century and more than £1.25m with the season ending in April.
Le Ligerien (3.15 Fontwell) looks a shoo-in for Hobbs at very short odds and Victarion (4.20) just the opposite: still struggling to lose his maiden certificate.
3.45 Fontwell The backable one (at 3.95 on BETDAQ this morning) is New Millenium, with conditions right for him to make all, as he did for Hobbs and Johnson in October over this CD.
He was joined two out but enjoyed winning a battle of supremacy over a horse of Gary Moore’s which went on to land a hat-trick.
What makes today’s race interesting is that Moore has managed to find another challenger, Waikiki Waves, who is in receipt of 11lb from New Millenium.
But, despite two wins out of three, Waves will find it hard to raise his game, up a grade and a total of 9lb higher. The runners-up in his two successes were (form figures) 3002 and 00PP0 when lining up against him and have done nothing since.
Of the rest of today’s field, Cybalko is a maiden and Glance Back is struggling with his weights rise after two wins on the soft.
GOOD DAYS BACK AT WETHERBY
4.30 Wetherby The name of one of their opponents, Irish raider Thosedaysaregone, aptly describes the chances of 10-year-old Simply A Legend and the even older Theatrebar.
Such veterans would be at home in a soft-ground chase maybe but this handicap hurdle on a sound surface should surely go to a younger horse.
In fact, Thosedaysaregone came over and beat Simply A Legend over today’s CD in January, when Legend was having his first race since the Kempton Silver Plate three years ago.
Strictly, he should turn around the form with the winner on 7lb better terms for four-and-a-half lengths.
But we can’t expect improvement, or even that he’ll hold his form, from Alan King’s fragile veteran who has managed just two starts (both seconds) in more than three years.
On the other hand, Thosedaysaregone (3.55 BETDAQ early mouse) took on Graded hurdles company at Ascot then easily beat Mall Dini in a beginners’ chase at Limerick. There’s clearly more to come from the six-year-old.
Front-runner Golden Jeffrey has scored back-to-back wins, stepping up a grade on the last day into the class-3 company he meets today.
Not quite that. Both wins were in small fields and the handicapper wasn’t impressed, raising him only 5lb for the two.
DAQMAN’S BETS
3.45 Fontwell (win 20)
BET 6.75pts win (nap) NEW MILLENIUM
4.10 Lingfield (win 20)
3pts win SPIRIT OF ANGEL
4.30 Wetherby (win 20)
BET 7.75pts win THOSEDAYSAREGONE
6.30 Newcastle (win 20)
BET 2.25pts win DREAMOFDISCOVERY
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.
