FORTUNE-COOKIE BANKERS FOR THE ST LEGER MEETING: Daqman’s ahead of the game for the Doncaster St Leger meeting, starting today. He’s backed one of his value bets, ante post – yesterday’s Leger bulls-eye at 7.5 on BETDAQ – and now he names four Fortune Cookie picks. He starts the meeting with these standings:
DAQMAN 52, PRICEWISE 31
SUPERNAPS 15-20 (75%)
LAYS LOGIC 13-18 (72%)
FORTUNE COOKIES 11-27 (40%)
RISING-STAR SPRINT FILLY MEETS THE CHAMPION MARE: Daqman looks at the plans of Doncaster specialist Roger Varian, and finds a filly for the Sceptre who took his breath away in Ireland. First, there’s news of a major filly-mare showdown in the Flying Five at the Curragh on Sunday, the new girl versus the champion.
TOP FLYERS CLASH AT THE CURRAGH
⚠️ HEADS UP: Tim Easterby has confirmed that his three-year-old filly Winter Power, who beat Saturday’s Haydock Sprint winner, Emaraaty Ana, in the Nunthorpe, will take on the champion mare Glass Slippers in the 300,000-euro Flying Five at the Curragh on Sunday. Both are engaged in the Prix de l’Abbaye in October.
Punters will have a choice on Sunday but will face more odds-on standouts in big races at the Doncaster four-day meeting, starting today.
Inspiral (May Hill Stakes) tomorrow, Stradivarius (Doncaster Cup, Friday) and Hurricane Lane (Doncaster St Leger, Saturday) are the most likely.
But, if a near-rival in the market drops out, Armor (Flying Childers, Doncaster Friday) and St Mark’s Basilica (Irish Champion Stakes, Saturday) could be very short.
FORTUNE COOKIES – Part 2: Glass Slippers, Point Lonsdale, Laneqash and St Mark’s Basilica are the likely Fortune Cookies bankers this week.
127 ST MARK’S BASILICA (Aidan O’Brien) Irish Champion Stakes, Leopardstown, Saturday. The Dewhurst winner on soft has continued his liking for plenty of cut.
This year’s hat-trick of French Guineas and Derby, and then the Coral-Eclipse, were on surfaces ranging from good-to-soft to very soft. Relaxed style and quickens impressively off that type of ground.
115 POINT LONSDALE (Aidan O’Brien 2yo) National Stakes, the Curragh, Sunday. Unbeaten in four races in his climb up the 2yo ladder from Listed (Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot), to Group 3 (Tyros at Leopardstown) and Group 2 (Curragh Futurity); has won on good, yielding and soft.
114 GLASS SLIPPERS (Kevin Ryan): Flying Five, Curragh, Sunday. The mare’s 2019 hat-trick was completed in the Abbaye at the Longchamp Arc meeting, and she was beaten only a neck, attempting the double last year.
Both Abbayes were run on the soft but Glass Slippers’ 2020 season reached a new high when she won the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland on the fast American surface. She had earlier won this Flying Five, also on ground returned as ‘good,’ though the time was on the slow side.
She normally opens her season slowly, and her King George sprint third at Goodwood in July was her best start in three years’ racing.
113 LANEQASH (Roger Varian): Park Stakes, Doncaster, Saturday. In the absence of Sacred, who beat him a length in the Hungerford, Laneqash represents the Cookies as top rating but still receiving 4lb from the International winner, Danyah.
Part 1 (two-year-olds) listed on Tuesday.
FOLLOWING VARIAN AT DONCASTER
⚠️ HEADS UP Doncaster is Roger Varian’s top track numerically (72 winners for a 25% strike rate) and it pays well, too: for his owners, £1.8m in prizemoney, and for punters a near-50-point profit to a single-unit stake.
His two-year-olds are out in force this week, with attacks on two nurseries here at Doncaster, starting in the opening race of the meeting; then the £200,000 Sales race on Thursday, plus a Group 3 at Longchamp.
Finally, but with more to come at the weekend, he runs Mitbaahy the Flying Childers at Town Moor on Friday. I shall back these four, stop at a winner, assuming he’ll make his 25% average:
SED MAARIB (1.45 Doncaster nursery today) Went clear on the tough track at Beverley the last day, despite rider losing his irons.
PRISM (1.40 Doncaster nursery tomorrow) Up in trip to go handicapping.
JAZZ CLUB (2.10 Doncaster Sales race tomorrow) Touch of class to beat big field at Windsor.
CLAIM THE CROWN (2.52 Longchamp, tomorrow) His Chelmsford runner-up won five lengths next time.
SHE TOOK MY BREATH AWAY AT NAAS
⭕ 2.40 Carlisle Oisin Murphy misses the opening day at Doncaster to go to Carlisle, where one of his rides is a first runner on the track for James Ferguson, the young Newmarket trainer who has been hitting the headlines.
Currently scoring at 26%, Murphy has guided Battle Of The Nile since the Spring and, after the two-year-old’s gelding op, the partnership came good on the last day. More to come and BETDAQ value at 3.9 in a seemingly mediocre field.
⭕ 3.25 Doncaster (Sceptre Fillies Stakes) As they’ve clustered in the middle of the track the near side (stalls 12, 13, 16) has provided a lone passage three times for shocks at 18-1, 20-1 and 22-1.
Otherwise the winners have come from stalls 3, 4 (twice), 6 (twice) and seven as they’ve dominated the main bunch.
I shall be watching the way the draw unfolds during the race and try to back up my first impressions that something lightning fast can streak down that near side.
I short-listed those who had already run well in the pattern: Double Or Bubble, Highfield Princess, Just Beautiful, Potapova, all with plenty of experience and, essentially, rated 100 or higher but all low-drawn, excepting Potapova (12).
But there out of gate 11 is the eyecatcher of the race, Wren’s Breath, a perfect candidate for a nearside run because blind in one eye and ridden to see a clear path when she flew home at Naas.
Taken to the near rail after a slow start, she charged from last to first,described by the Raceform racereader as ‘quickened up tremendously well.’
She looks well placed by Henry De Bromhead to make her mark in this Group 3 under Hollie Doyle.
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE 7.4 Wren’s Breath
⭕ 4.30 Doncaster Hollie has landed a hat-trick on Faisal and Team Gosden gives her this chance of a four-timer for the son of Golden Horn. Has had a 100-day holiday but remains capable of much better than he’s shown on the racetrack to date. Slightly better than evens (2.16) on BETDAQ this morning.
DAQMAN’S BETS
2.40 Carlisle (win 10)
BET 3.5pts win BATTLE OF THE NILE
3.25 Doncaster (win 50 bull’s-eye bet)
BET 7.75pts win WREN’S BREATH
4.30 Doncaster, even-money nap
BET 12pts win FAISAL
What are points? Points facilitate a staking plan, which is the secret to creating profit. One point is whatever you choose: a pound, a euro, or whatever ….
Start with a bank and decide how much you can afford to lose over a period of time, and determine the size of your bets accordingly. Daqman makes this variation every day.
