THE DAQMAN SPECIAL BETS HAVE THEIR CHAMPIONS DAY: Yet again the Champion Stakes, transferred from Newmarket to this meeting in 2011, to serve as the British Champions Middle Distance is top race of the day, featuring the joint world champions on ratings. All other races have been previewed during the week by Daqman. He brings out all his special bets for this final fling: supernap, lays logic, Fortune Cookies, and bets in the challenge to Pricewise. Standings:
DAQMAN 55, PRICEWISE 36
SUPERNAPS 18-26 (69%)
LAYS LOGIC 13-19 (68%)
FORTUNE COOKIES 14-35 (40%)
MURPHY THREE AHEAD OF BUICK FOR THE JOCKEYS’ TITLE: Oisin Murphy (153 wins) is 1-40 to take the jockeys’ title today over William Buick (150), who is out to 10-1, but is Daqman’s nap to take the main prize on Adayar.
ADAYAR CHAMPION OF THE WORLD
⭕ 3.50 Ascot (Champion Stakes) The first running of the Champion Stakes in its new home fielded seven Group-1 winners; today it has six, and is a world-title decider with both Adayar and Mishriff in the ring, rated the top two heavyweights off 127.
1: ADAYAR Only one Derby winner has won the race this century (New Approach 2008), unless you count Almanzor but his Derby win was in France.
Kicked a long way out in the Arc De Triomphe before folding in the heavy ground, which may have left a mark. But, since he was without a prep run before Longchamp, and has had only seven races in his life, he should be ok
2: MISHRIFF A story of honourable defeats. Leading two out but overtaken by St Mark’s Basilica and Addeybb in the Coral-Eclipse. Only a length down in the King George when Adayar showed his strength and stamina and won going away.
Better off at the weights today and back to winning form in the International at York but the runner-up Alenquer is only Group 2 and the third, Love, has had the indignity of a ratings cut by 4lb this year to 118.
3: DUBAI HONOUR Has improved 23lb in three races over the trip, leaping the gap between handicaps and Group 2, showing speed and manoeuvrability on firm and in mud
4: ADDEYBB His victory last year made him the first winner older than five since 1887 (now he’s seven). It was Addeybb’s first and only Group 1 in Europe and he beat just four other Group-1 winners that day, albeit one of them was Mishriff. The softer the ground the better.
5: BOLSHOI BALLET Injured in the Epsom Derby for which he was favourite. Won the Belmont Derby (1m 2f) on a sound surface but that doesn’t look world class, with the runner-up well behind Adayar’s stablemate, Yibir, in the Jockey Club Derby on the same track recently.
Sealiway needs rain. Al Aasy and Pyledriver have won only at Group-3 level. Mac Swiney has been behind both Mishriff and Adayar since winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE 3.6 Adayar
HAMISH BIG IMPROVER: BETDAQ 6.4
⭕ 1.25 Ascot (British Champions Long Distance Cup): Preview: Daqman, Tuesday.
1: Hamish Ran Trueshan to a neck at Newbuy two years ago and – injured in the Hardwicke – has really only raced once since. That was when getting up to stop a four-timer by Hukum last month.
He’s now back in the old guise as unexposed improver against the star performers whose ranks he might have joined.
2: Stradivarius Triple Ascot Gold Cup winner, won this Cup in 2018 but flopped behind Trueshan in the race last year (soft) and was beaten by the same horse – and the deep ground – for the French Gold Cup at the Arc meeting.
3: Trueshan His top-grade success has been reliant on soft ground and drying weather gives Stradivarius the edge in this rematch. But Hamish could be a big improver and conditions will also suit Search For A Song.
BETDAQ value 6.4 Hamish
MINZAAL HUGE AT BETDAQ 14.0
⭕ 2.00 Ascot (British Champions Sprint): Preview: Daqman, Wednesday
1: Minzaal Another ‘hidden horse’; Gimcrack winner who has had the one run back with this as his target. Huge at 14.0.
2: Art Power Useful at Ascot including fourth in this last year behind Glen Shiel and third in the Diamond Jubilee in June when Glen Shiel was second. Favoured by the weights today.
3: Rohaan He’s 2-2 at Ascot on the soft including the Wokingham, so it’s another weather question blowing in the wind.
BETDAQ value 15.0 Minzaal, 5.7 Art Power
BETDAQ 8.8 IS A VALUE INVITE
⭕ 2.35 Ascot (British Champions Fillies And Mares): Preview: Daqman, Thursday
1: Snowfall First she was, then she wasn’t going for the Champion Stakes. As with Adayar later on, the question mark over Snowfall is that she reappears after a slog in the mud, a gallant sixth in the Arc, and has raced every month from May to September.
But the triple Oaks winner has conditions in her favour here, and has already seen off Albaflora and Eshaada (Yorkshire Oaks runner-up).
2: Invite Put in a quality performance at Chester to beat the Ebor Handicap third but needs to improve 17lb in the ratings to get alongside Snowfall.
BETDAQ value With a straight eight in the race, win (9.2) and place (evens or better) Invite gives you a tilt against the long-odds-on favourite.
GROUND IS DRYING FOR BAAEED
⭕ 3.10 Ascot (British Champions Mile) Preview: Daqman, Friday
Runners older than five (Benbatl, Lord Glitters and last year’s winner, The Revenant) have never won this Mile, and there’s seldom a duel like this one:
1: Baaeed Five wins in a row, progressing to his sole Group 1 on the last day, luckily getting his ground in the Prix Du Moulin, and again this afternoon!
2: Palace Pier His only defeat came in this race last year, third to The Revenant after losing a fore shoe.
3: The Revenant, like Alcohol Free, has not got his ground today, but winner and second in this race in consecutive years; never out of the first four in his life.
BETDAQ value 3.5 Baaeed
NUGGET FOR GOLD IN THE LAST
⭕ 4.30 Ascot (Balmoral Handicap) Low numbers have an advantage in this straight mile, with stalls 1, 3, 4 taking four of the last six.
The ground was heavy when Escobar scored two years ago out of gate 21, and soft when he was second from 15 in 2018; he is now in 2, facing horses aged 4 and 5 who have a big age advantage.
You might remember from earlier in the week, a punter friend of mine took 25-1 Oisin Murphy and Sir Busker hoping it would give him a trading advantage: drawn 3 since then and 16.0 on BETDAQ this morning.
David O’Meara has won the race twice in four seasons and Rhoscolyn (stall 5), second in the Golden Mile at Goodwood, looks better placed than Shelir (stall 13, with a penalty) to follow stablemate Escobar’s example.
But the winner may be the progressive Nugget (gate seven), with Ryan Moore booked to follow up their Newbury Spring Cup strike together. Never out of the first three since his debut.
BETDAQ value 9.8 Nugget, 54.0 Rhoscolyn
Lays Logic Favourites have a poor record in this (17%) and Sunray Major is no bet at 3.1; drawn 21 and his win on the first of the month came against 86 and 92 (placed) horses; 18 opponents here are rated 101 or higher.
DAQMAN’S BETS on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
1.25 Ascot (win 20)
BET 3.75pts win HAMISH
2.00 Ascot (win 50 bull’s-eye bets)
BET 10pts win ART POWER
BET 3.5pts win MINZAAL
2.35 Ascot (win 20, place win 8)
BET 2.5pts win and place INVITE
3.10 Ascot (win 20)
BET 8pts win BAAEED
3.50 Ascot (win 20, supernap)
BET 10pts win ADAYAR
4.30 Ascot (win 50 bulls-eye bets, place win 6.5)
BET 5.5pts win NUGGET
BET 1pt win and place RHOSCOLYN
FORTUNE COOKIES
(4 x 1pt trebles and 1pt Champions acca)
2.00 ART POWER
2.35 SNOWFALL
3.10 BAAEED
3.50 ADAYAR
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.
