DAQMAN WINS WITH WEDGE SHOT AND NAP PERFECTLY PLACED: Daqman had two returns yesterday for the fourth time in five days, among them a 5-2 win nap and Monday’s place nap, his trio profiting more than 16 points on the day. Here are his daily duos (plus one) in reverse order:
Monday
WON 11-8 BILLY WEDGE
2ND 11-4 MRS WORTHINGTON (place nap)
Sunday
WON 9-5 VICTOR LUDORUM
3RD 66-10 SOTTSASS
Saturday
WON 17-5 ANAPURNA
3RD 14-1 ESCOBAR (from 25.0 on BETDAQ)
Thursday
WON 5-2 REINE DE VITESSE (nap)
WON 8-1 RAPTURE
2ND 14-1 PITCHCOMBE
KINGPIN IS POISED TO SKITTLE THE FIELD IN THE DEWHURST: Longchamp and Newmarket two-year-old race results at the weekend changed the order of Daqman’s ratings but – at least until Saturday’s Dewhurst – the kingpin remains the same and the race looks a formality. There are 11 Dewhurst probables but the only confirmed runner, Positive, is a stone behind Pinatubo in the ratings.
PINATUBO AS THE NEW FRANKEL
The Dewhurst could be no race. One of the final tests for two-year-olds at Newmarket on Saturday has two major obstacles against even bothering to turn up: soft ground and Pinatubo.
As 5-4 favourite for the 2020 Guineas, Pinatubo is seen as the new Frankel 10 years on, or at least in the mould of Gleneagles or Churchill.
One hat-trick, Aidan O’Brien’s current Guineas sequence of Churchill, Saxon Warrior and Magna Grecia, gives way to another: Godolphin’s trio of juvenile colts, Pinatubo, Earthlight and Victor Ludorum.
Ballydoyle’s best does not appear until 10th in my list of ratings, which has to include Jessica Harrington’s fab fillies, Millisle and Albigna.
Enable’s owner, Khalid Abdullah, potentially has another top-class filly in Quadrilateral (Roger Charlton, colt by Frankel), nine lengths Newbury winner due to run in Friday’s Fillies’ Mile.
121 Pinatubo (Charlie Appleby, colt by Shamardal) Chesham Stakes (Royal Ascot), Vintage at Goodwood and runaway National Stakes winner at the Curragh over Armory.
116 Earthlight (Andre Fabre, colt by Shamardal) Prix Morny winner on heavy ground from Raffle Prize, Golden Horde, Arizona and A’Ali. Beat Golden Horde in the Middle Park.
115 Millisle (Jessica Harrington, filly by Starspangledbanner) Cheveley Park winner from Raffle Prize, who is one of the juvenile-form benchmarks.
114 Golden Horde (Clive Cox, colt by Lethal Force) Well beaten by Earthlight in the Morny (heavy) but closed him down to a neck in the Middle Park (good).
112 Siskin (Ger Lyons, colt by First Defence) Marble Hill, Railway and Phoenix Stakes hat-trick at The Curragh.
110 Raffle Prize (Mark Johnston filly by Slade Power) Queen Mary and Duchess Of Cambridge winner, beaten by Earthlight in the Morny and Millisle in the Cheveley Park.
111 Victor Ludorum (Andre Fabre, colt by Shamardal) beat Alson and Armory in the Lagardere.
110 Albigna (Jessica Harrington, filly by Zoffany) said to have been in season when flopping in the Moyglare, subsequently won the Marcel Boussac in good time for the very soft ground.
110 Alson (Jean-Pierre Carvalho, colt by Areion) second in the Lagardere
110 Armory (Aidan O’Brien, colt by Galileo) Curragh Futurity winner but nine lengths off Pinatubo in the National Stakes there and third in the Lagardere.
110 Summer Sands (Richard Fahey, colt by Coach House) 100-1 when third to Earthlight in the Middle Park, but franked that by drawing well clear of 16 others in Redcar Two-Year-Old Trophy field.
108 Arizona (Aidan O’Brien, colt by No Nay Never) Beat Threat in the Coventry but no match for Earthlight, as Morny fourth, and Pinatubo, as National Stakes third.
108 King Neptune (Aidan O’Brien, colt by War Front) Benchmark extraordinary. Behind Golden Horde, Millisle, Kings Lynn and Earthlight in successive races.
108 Kings Lynn (Andrew Balding, colt by Cable Bay) won 20-runner sales race at Doncaster.
106 Lope Y Fernandez (Aidan O’Brien, colt by Lope De Vega) Another benchmark. Beaten at Ascot and Goodwood by Pinatubo and by Earthlight in the Middle Park. Round Tower winner from Guildsman in between.
106 Threat (Richard Hannon, colt by Footstepsinthesand) Coventry runner-up, landed Gimcrack and Champagne double after defeat by Golden Horde at Goodwood and before fifth in the Middle Park.
104 Mums Tipple (Richard Hannon, colt by Footstepsinthesand) 11-lengths York sales-race winner, put in his place when last but one in the Middle Park.
ALSO: 107 Monarch Of Egypt, Royal Lytham; 106 A’Ali, Positive; 103 Alpine Star, Dark Lady, Quadrilateral, 100 Cayenne Pepper, Love, Pierre Lapin.
OK, WE GETCHA
1.50 Leicester The going is heavy after the course passed their morning inspection (unlike Catterick) and I’m quite surprised not to have seen more non runners on the card.
The Clive Cox trained Pour Me A Drink, as the name might suggest, likes plenty of juice in the ground and his only career success to date has come on soft ground at Haydock.
Haydock ‘soft’ can translate as heavy elsewhere, so we should have no problems on the stamina front – despite him tackling a mile and a half for the first time. He comes into this on the back of a solid effort at Newbury when second to Entrusting in a class 4 handicap (pair well clear) and was noted as staying on particularly well at the end of that 1m 2f trip.
Although this is also a class 4, it looks a weaker contest than Newbury and he should be able to shrug off his rise in the weights at the chief expense of Tavus who is now 11lb higher in the weights compared to August when he began his current good sequence with a win at Newbury.
3.25 Leicester Just the four runners for this class 2 handicap but anyone of three could start favourite judged by the BETDAQ market – it really is that open !
It might well be that Clive Cox and Adam Kirby again hold the key – this time with Getchagetchagetcha who sports cheekpieces for the first time.
The three-year-old seemed to cope well with heavy ground last time out at Goodwood when fourth in a Listed contest (beaten less than 5 lengths) and he should appreciate the extra trip here.
There are big ground concerns about his rivals.
Spanish Archer disappointed on soft ground at Haydock last month, Spirit Ridge has never tackled anything slower than good and repeat the same comment for the outsider of the quartet Indianapolis.
8.10 Chelmsford Poetic Legacy will be the obvious call for many in the finale. The Mark Johnston trained runner was a course and distance winner here last month and has continued to run well in two starts since, finishing second at both Newcastle and Wolverhampton.
Her presence though really tilts the market, too much in my opinion and means we will get a nice price about Masai Spirit who was going away at the finish when winning here last month and should relish this extra distance. She’s up 4lb but could be a ‘new’ horse over this trip and I will stake to win 10 points in both the win and place markets.
DAQMAN’S BETS (all staked to win 10 points, including place bet)
BET 3.6pts win POUR ME A DRINK (1.50 Leicester)
BET 4.1pts win (nap) GETCHAGETCHAGETCHA (3.25 Leicester)
BET 1.6pts win and 7.6pts place MASAI SPIRIT (8.10 Chelmsford)
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.
