DAQMAN’S WINNING PROPHECY STRIKES YET AGAIN: Winner-a-day Daqman landed his Thursday nap with Irish Prophecy (WON 2-1) for a profit on the day and an early lead over Pricewise in the search for feature-race winners. In just five days of the jumps season, Daqman has:
🔥 Three naps up out of five
🔥 A naps profit of 17.27
🔥 2-1 winners lead over Pricewise
🔥 +30 points up on Pricewise to level stakes
FORTUNE COOKIES ON A ROLL: 27 POINTS IN PROFIT: It’s Friday the Thirteenth but trust your luck on a great day’s racing featuring the first of the two backend cross-country tests at Cheltenham. Today sees the return of Tiger Roll, who had an outing on the Flat last month but faces a Daqman Fortune Cookie from the jumps list which is already 3-6, showing a profit of 27 points.
RACE TO BANK ON FOR THE NATIONAL
⭕ 3.00 Cheltenham (cross-country) These Glenfarclas cross-countrys have become huge for developing stayers high on the spectrum, attracting top-quality animals in the 160-170 range. Today’s is absolutely five star.
Perhaps it’s all down to Gordon Elliott, who took over Silver Birch from Paul Nicholls in 2006-7, trained him into a place on the Punchestown banks and second again in the Cheltenham Festival cross-country as superpreps for his winning the Aintree Grand National (we were on!)
It’s hard to imagine a line-up like today’s anywhere in England or Ireland for just £12,000. The Clonmel Oil Chase yesterday, courageously won by Bachasson, was worth more than double that.
171 Tiger Roll Triumph Hurdle winner Tiger Roll was another cast-off from an English yard (Nigel Hawkes in 2014), who would win another Cheltenham Cross-Country for Elliott and, remarkably, another Grand National inside a month in 2018 (we were on!).
That Tiger Roll repeated that feat in 2019 is the stuff of jumps-racing history; that year the two races were even closer together.
The 2020 National and his hat-trick bid was cancelled after he had been beaten for a third cross-country at the Cheltenham festival.
167 Easysland Deciding enough was enough for Tiger Roll, my Fortune Cookies switched allegiance to the new kid on the block, Easysland, after he won the December cross-country here.
He immediately confirmed his home superiority over the French, taking the Grand Cross, a similar race at Pau, before slamming Tiger Roll 17 lengths at the Cheltenham festival for David Cottin in March this year. He receives 4lb from Tiger Roll today, so they start level on the official ratings.
151 Potters Corner A third stable change (Paul Morgan to Christian Williams), Potters Corner won the algorithmic version of the Grand National, substituted for the real thing in a TV simulation when Liverpool was lost in April.
He had landed just one handicap chase when he won the Listed level 2019 Midlands Grand National, followed by the Coral Welsh Grand National last December.
Aged 10 now and more than a stone to find with his contemporary Tiger Roll but a late developer in receipt of 25lb who was favourite for the Aintree race before being gifted it technologically.
136 Little Bruce Cambridgeshire National winner 2019 at Huntingdon and North Yorkshire Grand National winner at Catterick in January. Needs to find a lot more.
135 Kings Temptation, 132 Beau De Brizais, Vivas are not up to this level.
130 Vino Royale David Cottin, trainer of Easysland, has a second string to his bow. At the age of five, ‘Vino’ has already won a French cross-country (in August) at today’s trip, and has potential to climb the ranks.
127 Kingswell Theatre Won today’s race three years ago but well behind both Easysland and Tiger Roll in similar contests since and 11 now.
MAGIC SAINT ON SLIPPERY SLOPE
⭕ 1.50 Cheltenham (2m handicap chase) Seven and eight year olds usually win this but, unusually, there is a raiding party of youngsters of five and six this year.
One of them is the little ex-French Fanion d’Estruval, a winner first time in a novice handicap when joining Venetia Williams but found out when hiked to a Grade 2.
Bred to get a trip so his winning at Newbury a year back, going with the pace over the minimum, was an achievement, but will he be able to ‘climb’ the big fences and save some rope for the uphill finish of Cheltenham?
He’s getting only 2lb from Magic Saint, who was fifth at this meeting last year in Saturday’s Autumn Gold Cup (2m 4f) and afterwards, back to 2m, won a Ladbrokes Handicap worth £25,000 at Newbury, beating the last recorded winner of today’s race, Bun Doran in 2018.
Beat The Judge and On The Slopes were both put in their place (along with Ballywood) by Rouge Vif over the course and distance on this Cheltenham old course.
The pair officially get 10lb from Magic Saint and I’m hoping that today’s result will be a strong pointer to Rouge Vif, my Fortune Cookie in Sunday’s Cheltenham Chase.
On The Slopes (BETDAQ 4.5) looked more in need of the race and Richard Johnson is ultra-reliable, out of a place just once in 13 starts, still standing, and with six winners in as many days.
⭕ 2.25 Cheltenham Southfield Stone was convincing here three weeks back, and can put two races together; in fact, he has been out of the frame only once in 14 starts.
But the conditions of the race mean that he’s giving weight to two younger horses with higher ratings.
Protektorat, a hurdles winner on this new course here, made a recent transition to fences in style, and is earmarked for 3m chases, so more all-the-way tactics are likely over the shorter trip again today.
The day after Protektorat’s win at Carlisle, Mossy Fen could be seen jumping right and seemingly failing to get home on the old course here over 3m behind the impressive Galvin.
The drop back in trip will suit Mossy Fen but he’s now three in a row out of the frame at Cheltenham and, on official ratings, Protektorat (BETDAQ Betting Exchange 2.75) has 2lb to play with over ‘Mossy’ and 6lb over Southfield Stone.
STABLES IN HOT FAVOURITES SPREE
⭕ 3.35 Cheltenham (Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle) Does He Know’s CD win here three weeks back came in a race of winners, and he’s trained by in-form Kim Bailey, whose SP favourites in November have finished 11321211, all bar one of the five winners ridden by David Bass.
These form figures are remarkable, such as you might see served up in the jumps discipline by a Henderson or a Mullins.
No sooner said than Nicky Henderson himself, who runs Grand Mogul, is revealed as more than a match for Bailey right now. His favourites in November have returned 121011113U1.
Grand Mogul is officially 11lb behind Does He Know (BETDAQ 2.6) and he’s had three long breaks in his career, despite running only five times (won two), so a comparatively quick return here carries a risk.
A 2m 4f Royal Ascot winner (The Grand Visir) and a dour staying mare (Wild Romance) make up the ingredients for an intriguing contest.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.50 Cheltenham (win 12, nap)
BET 3.5pts win ON THE SLOPES
2.25 Cheltenham (win 10)
BET 5.5pts win PROTEKTORAT
3.00 Cheltenham
FORTUNE COOKIES (early birds)
BET 10pts win EASYSLAND
3.35 Cheltenham (win 10)
BET 6pts win DOES HE KNOW
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