SAINT’S A LIVE 7-2 WINNER FOR DAQMAN: Balko Saint saved most of the bacon yesterday at a rewarding 7-2 to give Daqman three winning bets in two days at the weekend. He starts a new week today with three bets including an early nap at Pontefract.
Sunday
WON 7-2 BALKO SAINT
Saturday
WON 2-1 BAAEED (Champions Mile)
WON (lay) 2-1 SUNRAY MAJOR (Balmoral Handicap, unplaced)
FUTURITY HAS FABULOUS CLASSIC PROFILE: Daqman starts his preview of the big race of the week, the Futurity Stakes for two year-olds at Doncaster on Saturday, with a profile of the race which reveals its fabulous Classic potential. Look out for his guide to the runners later in the week.
GET YOUR GUINEAS BET HERE!
Five Guineas in a row? The last big two-year-old test, the Futurity, will be run on Saturday after landing four Guineas in four years, the winner going on to take three Newmarket 2,000 Classics and one Irish 2,000.
Those of you who have followed Daqman’s records of the top two-year-old races of the season will see this one added to them and published in ratings order next week as the Three-Year-olds Of 2022.
DONCASTER
⭕ 3.15 Saturday, Futurity Stakes (1m) Winning trainers: Aidan O’Brien (4), Andrew Balding (2) in the decade.
*Likely market leaders on Saturday are Luxembourg (O’Brien), Angel Bleu (R Beckett), Royal Patronage (Mark Johnston), Globe Truth and Coroebus (both Charlie Appleby): watch this space for updates.
The race, which this century produced Derby winners High Chaparral (2001), Motivator (2004), Authorized (2006) and Camelot (2011), has suddenly become the key to the Guineas instead.
Saxon Warrior (2017) Unbeaten favourite for this race, when it was known as the Racing Post Trophy, scored gamely by only a neck.
But the runner-up was the Royal Lodge winner, also unbeaten, Roaring Lion, who would be beaten again by Saxon Warrior when only fifth in the Newmarket 2,000 Guineas but would end his career rated 6lb better, after defeating Saxon Warrior in, consecutively, the Coral-Eclipse, York International and Irish Champion Stakes of 2018.
Magna Grecia (2018) The one-two in the 2018 Futurity, Magna Grecia and Phoenix Of Spain, would also meet again. Magna Grecia won the Newmarket Guineas but was only fifth to Phoenix Of Spain in the Irish equivalent three weeks later.
Kameko (2019) Followed up his Futurity win (race run that year at Newcastle) by taking the 2019 Newmarket Guineas by a neck.
Mac Swiney (2020) The race returned to Doncaster on heavy ground and the winner, Mac Swiney, got those conditions again at the Curragh for the Irish 2,000, beating the Newmarket Guineas winner of his year, Poetic Flare. Has just returned to form, third in the Champion Stakes to Sealiway on Saturday
HEADING FOR MANILA
⭕ 1.15 Pontefract Manila Scouse has shown more than enough in two starts to suggest he can get off the mark here.
The Tim Easterby trained two-year-old stepped up on a promising Beverley debut to finish a head second to Designer at Chester last time out when he stayed on strongly in the closing stages to suggest this step up in trip to six furlongs, and a testing one at that, should be right up his street.
It was soft ground at Chester and the same is forecast today – he rates as the Monday nap.
Greenbarn was sent off favourite on debut at Beverley but ran as green as her name and could be the main danger today given she is likely to know much more about the game.
Miss Calculation was a Doncaster winner (on heavy ground) on debut but hasn’t really progressed since and might again find the penalty hard to defy against the more progressive types.
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
⭕ 6.00 Wolverhampton Liangel Hope was only pipped over course and distance on debut and subsequently beaten at odds on by Chola Empire at Chelmsford over the longer seven furlongs. However, he was only narrowly beaten and the pair pulled six lengths clear.
He’s surely got to be worth another chance now dropped back to six furlongs? Beaten a head twice in two starts he’d be racing under a double penalty here if the head bobs had gone the other way – a game of fine margins!
ZOOM NOT THE CALL
⭕ 8.00 Wolverhampton Even Andrew Balding’s magic this season hasn’t been enough to cajole Zoom Tiger into the winners’ enclosure and at around even money tonight he makes precious little appeal – even in this modest contest.
He was a very good third at Newmarket on his second start but has been a bitter disappointment since on both turf and all-weather and there are much better even money shots during the course of a season.
We still need to find one to beat him and that might be Ciotog with the Brian Meehan stable going so well (4 winners from last 15).
Ciotog was no match for the 1/4 shot Mujtaba at Chester last time out but ran a creditable second and the winner remains unbeaten.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 10 points) on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
BET 7.9pts win (nap) MANILA SCOUSE (1.15 Pontefract)
BET 6.25pts win LIANGEL HOPE (6.00 Wolverhampton)
BET 3.3pts win CIOTOG (8.00 Wolverhampton)
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.