CHELTENHAM COUNTDOWN: Every day next week don’t miss Daqman’s continued Cheltenham countdown with a day-by-day survey of stats and facts for each race in the England v Ireland bonanza. Today he checks out the unusual preparation of England’s gold hope.
DAQMAN’S SATURDAY FEAT: Saturday is a tense day for the top tipster. Even when you’ve done it all, you want to win again and again. He must try to match last Saturday’s four winners from four big races: 131 points profit. Check it out in Sunday’s Archive. It took him 32-17 clear of Pricewise.
ENGLAND PROTECTOR
No more Helter Skelton. He’s still the new kid on the block of British jumps racing after eight years but it’s no longer ‘my kingdom for a horse.’
Dan Skelton, who trains in Shakespeare country, has done the hard part of building an empire, racing to the 1,000-winner milestone in record time. Now he’s got the horse that can turn him into gold.
The training of Protektorat is more Mullins or Henderson than his old guvn’or Paul Nicholls.
Simply put: we haven’t seen the horse this year; he has missed the trials; he hasn’t even done the distance.
Is it a gamble or huge faith in the son of Saint Des Saints? Is Protektorat the ultimate striker for owner Sir Alex Ferguson, former manager of Manchester United for 27 years?
Cheltenham and Aintree are chalk and cheese but it’s on Protektorat’s ‘unbelievable’ 25-lengths win in the Many Clouds Chase on the Liverpool track in early December when only six-years-old that they pin their hopes.
The runner-up, Native River, who had taken the Many Clouds in 2019, won the Gold Cup and was four times in the first four but a shadow of his former self when Protektorat left him trailing.
One Man and Florida Pearl were hot Gold Cup favourites found wanting for stamina in the 1990s, but Skelton is confident he’ll get the trip.
‘Even if it turns into one of this dig-deep, gritty Gold Cups, he’ll be in there! He loves to run; loves to jump; and hopefully stays all day.’
English fans, bracing themselves for another Irish demolition job at Cheltenham, want a Gold Cup winner they can back.
Daqman is already ahead of the game with 11.0 Protektorat on BETDAQ ante-post. Next week he finds the stables with the most to offer and the stats to inform us.
The target: more big-odds outsiders to go with his Fortune Cookies and ante-post bets. Look back; move forward with Daqman; and check out the ante-post prices.
Tuesday Archive: Cheltenham Festival Fortune Cookies.
Wednesday: Daqman’s Greatest Hits
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE has Cheltenham ante-post prices now
GOLD LURES RYAN HOME
⭕ 2.10 Lingfield Ryan Moore, home from Riyadh, has his first ride back on Gold Medal, a comfortable winner at Wolverhampton in September before trying Listed level at Doncaster on the soft.
This drop down to class 5, back on AW, should see him back in the medals. There were non-runners this morning but I managed to get evens.
⭕ 2.45 Lingfield Count Otto started a run of three out of four in this race a year ago and, after two quiet reappearances this year, is now down in the ratings to 7lb below his mark for that win here and even within a pound of the third win, a classy affair at Newmarket’s Craven meeting when he beat subsequent Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed Chil Chil.
Trainer Amanda Perrett returned 12 days ago with three runners spread over six days and they finished 213.
BETDAQ value 7.4 Count Otto
HE CAN WORK HIS MAGIC
⭕ 4.05 Newbury Stellar Magic drops in grade, goes up in trip and wears cheekpieces first time. His Philip Hobbs yard has been in fine form with five winners in eight days. Can he give weight all round?
Guerlain de Vaux has been a progressive novice for the Million In Mind partnership but the Oliver Sherwood stable has not had a winner for 50 days; in fact, Guerlain de Vaux was his last one.
Coeur De Lion has been placed five times at Newbury without winning but went very close there the last day.
Scarpia tried to duck a 7lb rise by running quickly after his Plumpton win but ducked out of the race early instead!
Hurricane Harvey has to bounce back after losing his way over genes. Risk And Roll is up 10lb. Who Dares Wins hasn’t scored since June, 2020, and who dares back him 17lb higher in a hurdle race at age 10.
BETDAQ value 6.0 Stellar Magic
NOT SUCH A TALL ORDER
⭕ 4.35 Newbury This class-3 Geoffrey Gilbey Trophy has twice been won by Venetia Williams, both times with the money down, successful favourites.
But her Commis D’Office is not the known mudlover of so many in her team (all three wins on good to soft) and is a 10-year-old now.
It’s a race for younger horses with no winner in the decade over the age of eight, and Commis’ wind op must allow him to take in the air at Newbury on a deeper surface.
Paddy’s Poem, who is 11, is a four times a winner on a soundish surface (three times on ‘good’) ,and it’s hard to have much faith in trainer Nick Gifford on 4% this year. He’s gone 69 losers in a row at Newbury.
Chic Name is back on his winning mark but his success has been over much further and he’s been missing for 723 days. Somekindofstar has scored only in class 4 Mudlover Monsieur Lecoq’s favourite hunting ground is Ascot, and he’s a winner at Leicester, so may prefer a right-handed track.
He is top weight but has frequented class 2 and Listed company and he’s down more than a stone over the last year.
You wonder how Monsieur Lecoq will get on at Newbury. Equally you wonder why Casa Tall is back there after his only poor effort was at Newbury the last day, following form figures of 1312 in a tongue-tie.
But it was his first race in two months and two of his three chase wins came second run back after a break.
BETDAQ value 3.6 Casa Tall
DAQMAN’S BETS
2.10 Lingfield (win 10, nap)
BET 10pts win GOLD MEDAL
2.45 Lingfield (win 20)
BET 3.25pts win COUNT OTTO
4.05 Newbury (win 10)
BET 2pts win STELLAR MAGIC
4.35 Newbury (win 10)
BET 3.75pts win CASA TALL
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.
