PAUL NICHOLLS TO LAUNCH YOUNG STAR CHASER AT AINTREE: Daqman intends to complete his Futurity preview with a check on the probable runners in the next couple of days but first he focuses on the start of Jumps racing proper with the first major meetings at Cheltenham Friday and Saturday, and finds a Fortune Cookie for Paul Nicholls at Aintree on Sunday.
TODAY: Daqman keeps the stakes low with bets from Yarmouth and Kempton where his nap runs at 7.00.
TAMAROC IN FOOTSTEPS OF FRODON
Back to the big Jumps arenas. While Newmarket and Doncaster this week are part of the Flat 2021 wrap of the final two weeks, Cheltenham and Aintree kick off the National Hunt season proper.
Cheltenham Friday and Saturday feature nine class-2 races, and Aintree Sunday has the Grade-2 Old Roan Chase with the Desert Orchid Silver Cup at Wincanton.
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has had 11 winners over the last decade on the Wincanton card but has won the Desert Orchid only once.
He will saddle Rhythm Is A Dancer, a winner twice in the late summer, who has taken to fences well under Harry Cobden.
But a pound higher, and top of the weights, is likely to be Wandrin Star, who has taken the race before for Kim Bailey, and can score when fresh.
Nicholls is very keen on the six-year-old Tamaroc Du Mathan for the Old Roan which he won in 2018 with a young aspiring chaser of the same age, Frodon.
Frodon would go on to win three top chases at Cheltenham during the following winter, culminating in the Ryanair at the big March festival.
Tamaroc Du Mathan won the Grade-2 Pendil Novices Chase at Kempton and was runner–up to Shishkin in the Wayward Lad. ‘Very athletic with plenty of scope’ is the trainer’s verdict.
Among those taking advantage of the firmish Jumps ground will be Dal Horrisgle, trained by Alan King, who has finished high in the Flat-training ranks thanks to Trueshan.
Dal Horrisgle won 2-2 novice hurdles on top of the ground during the summer before having a wind op, and a quiet return at Uttoxeter early last month.
Kingy can now choose to continue the five-year-old’s novice career in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham on Friday, or take him into handicaps later in the afternoon.
MORE PROFIT TO BE POCKETED?
⭕ 3.05 Yarmouth A slightly odd card at Yarmouth this afternoon which starts at 1.23. Finding winners might be as easy as 123, especially in the 2.30 when the William Haggas trained Tarhib attempts to follow up her recent Lingfield success. She was quoted at 1.05 on BETDAQ to do so in mid-morning trading!
Clitheroe will also be at short odds in the 1.55 and should win but the card also features some much more competitive racing with some races bordering on the impossible.
I thought the bet on the card might be our friend Pocket The Profit who did us a good turn last week when he completed his hat-trick.
The winning run might continue here, even under another penalty. He is winning with plenty in hand and Ryan Moore takes over today for the first time. Though a caveat to that. Pocket The Profit is in better form than Moore who has now gone 44 rides without a win. He has two chances of snapping that sequence earlier in the card.
ANTIPHON THE NAP CALL
⭕ 7.00 Kempton It looked a match at first glance between Antiphon and Whoputfiftyinyou but that one is by no means certain to confirm Haydock form with Sharesa (who was third to Whoputfiftyinyou) as there is now a 7lb swing in the weights in favour of Sharesa.
It might be academic anyway as waiting in the wings is Antiphon who created a very favourable impression on debut at Newmarket when third to Forca Brazil. The form of the race has worked out very nicely with with the runner-up, 4th, 5th and 6th all winning races subsequently.
Oddly, the winner and Antiphon haven’t run since and given the race was in April that might be the only negative but the early market clues are favourable.
POWER PLAY
⭕ 8.00 Kempton A class 4 handicap is as good as it gets at Kempton tonight. The starting point for many here will be Diamond Bay who is a big improver and on for a four-timer. However he was all out to win by a head at Wolverhampton last time out and the handicapper has given him a present of an extra 3lb to mark the occasion.
He might struggle against Sky Power who is a class dropper who deserves a win after solid efforts in three races this year. He went down by half a length in a class 3 here last time having previously been unlucky at Sandown.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 10 points) on BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
BET 4.2pts win POCKET THE PROFIT (3.05 Yarmouth)
BET 8.3pts win (nap) ANTIPHON (7.00 Kempton)
BET 2.6pts win SKY POWER (8.00 Kempton)
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.
