SPRINT STARS IN KINGS STAND CRUNCH: My best ever, pal! No, we strip fittest! It’s the cracking head-to-head of sprint stars from America and Australia in the Kings Stand Stakes. Then there’s Baaeed, the horse they’re calling world champion, plus Guineas winner Coroebus. It’s a right royal start to Ascot.
DAQMAN LEADS 28-20 FOR ASCOT DAY 1: Daqman v Pricewise is 28-20 to open Day One. Look out for Fortune Cookies, Lays Logic, Key Stats, Key Races. Each race reveals the huge value in BETDAQ total percentages. Headlines:
BAAEED IS STILL ON THE UPGRADE
THE AGE OF THREE JOCKEY KINGS
GOLDMINE FOR THE PUNTER’S PAL
COROEBUS GETS A CLASSIC LIFT
THIS IS SCHEMED FOR PROSCHEMA
PEROTTO PREPS AT GROUP LEVEL
CLEVELAND COULD GET A BOOSTER
BAAEED IS STILL ON THE UPGRADE
🎩 2.30 Royal Ascot (Queen Anne Stakes, 1m) STATS: See Daqman last Tuesday.
Aidan O’Brien has won this four times, and Baaeed, receiving 4lb age allowance, had to be driven out to beat his Order Of Australia just over a length in the Prix du Moulin (officially ‘good to soft’) in September.
But Baaeed improved on that in October to topple Palace Pier in the British Champions Mile and looked the complete professional when landing the Lockinge, eased down, last month from the 2021 Royal Hunt Cup winner, Real World, spoiling the Godolphin runner’s 5-5 turf record. Chindit was five-lengths third.
DAQMAN’S 1-2-3 (BETDAQ offers 102%): 1.17 Baaeed, 45.0 Order Of Australia, 13.5 Real World
THE AGE OF THREE JOCKEY KINGS
🎩 3.05 Royal Ascot (Coventry Stakes, 6f) STATS: See Daqman last Tuesday.
Aidan O’Brien seems to win this every third year so the time is right today with his ace contenders ridden by two of the three jockeys who stand out from the pack.
Blackbeard (Ryan Moore) is 3-3 progressively from maiden to Listed to Group-3 success. The Marble Hill winner and his stable companion, Age Of Kings, are both entered for the Railway Stakes, just 11 days away.
Age Of Kings (Frankie Dettori) has been less conspicuous but his breeding gives him more scope for the future, particularly over further.
The third jockey stand-out is Colin Keane, booked to ride the U.S. raider, Late September, cunningly named from her dam, Hello Maggie May. It will be ‘back to school’ for the Ballydoyle pair if they have to make Late excuses!
Holguin followed last year’s Andrew Balding Coventry winner, Berkshire Shadow, by breaking his maiden in the same Newbury race but, returning there for further education, was given the cold shoulder in the market and a lesson in the race by the Brocklesby winner, Persian Force.
One early gamble of the race, Bradsell, does not impress on breeding and his nine-lengths York strike has to be downgraded after the runner-up was well beaten back at York on Saturday.
Runaway Goodwood winner Royal Scotsman is from the Paul Cole stable which has won the Coventry, Chesham and Norfolk two-year-old tests here. A little rain might have helped.
DAQMAN’S 1-2-3 (BETDAQ offers 102%): 4.2 Blackbeard, 8.0 Age Of Kings, 58.0 Late September (e.w. 42.0).
GOLDMINE FOR THE PUNTER’S PAL
🎩 3.40 Royal Ascot (King’s Stand Stakes, 5f) STATS: See Daqman Tuesday
For once, England v. Ireland gives way to Australia v. America, as Aussie ace Nature Strip goes toe to toe with Golden Pal, described by Wesley Ward as ‘the best horse I’ve ever trained.’
Victory for Nature Strip would take him past £10m in earnings after 20 wins. Golden Pal is only just past the million, with six wins from seven, since his neck defeat in the 2020 Norfolk Stakes here (good to soft) as a two-year-old.
In his favour today’s fast ground, and he’s three years young, with just nine starts in his career. Nature Strip is seven and has won most of his races on the soft, starting 37 times and winning twice as many races at 5.5f and 6f than he has at 5f.
Both like to break fast and are drawn close together in 10 and 13. Nature Strip’s last two 5f wins on a sound surface were timed at 56.66 and 56.91, Golden Pal’s recent romp at Del Mar was in 55.22 on firm, half a second outside the track record.
Winter Power won the Nunthorpe last year in 56.22, and The Queen’s Kings Lynn pipped Twilight Calls in the Temple Stakes at Haydock in 58.88.
But Colin Keane is again the third jockey king in a prile of hot horses, with Mooniesta suited by the stiff ‘five’ and bidding for bragging rights should the two champions cut each other’s throat.
DAQMAN”S 1-2-3 (BETDAQ offers 101%): 4.4 Golden Pal, 3.25 Nature Strip, 14 Mooniesta
COROEBUS GETS A CLASSIC LIFT
🎩 4.20 Royal Ascot (St James Palace Stakes, 1m) STATS: See Daqman Tuesday
The Guineas is the best guide to this and Coroebus is well drawn. He has had his Newmarket Classic victory boosted by the runner-up, Native Trail, who went on to win the Irish version at the Curragh, with New Energy third.
My Prospero beat Reach For The Moon in the (Listed) Heron Stakes at Sandown; while he makes the leap into Group 1 today, the runner-up takes a single step up into Group 3 here on Thursday.
Maljoom is unbeaten but had to be driven out to win the German Guineas, which would normally rate 7-10lb behind the Newmarket and Curragh versions.
Berkshire Shadow, the Coventry winner last year, was fifth at Newmarket at a time when his stable was not at its best; will appreciate the firmish ground.
DAQMAN”S 1-2-3 (BETDAQ offers 102%): 1.78 Coroebus, 39.0 Berkshire Shadow, 6.2 My Prospero.
THIS IS SCHEMED FOR PROSCHEMA
🎩 5.00 Royal Ascot (Ascot Stakes, 2m 4f) STATS: See Daqman last Tuesday. KEY RACE: This is a key race for Daqman (see Sunday).
It was firm ground when Reshoun won this last year off the same 97 rating at 66-1, breaking a long sequence of success in the race for hurdlers or those tough types who can mix hurdles and the Flat (10-11).
Reshoun’s trainer, Ian Williams, brought back The Grand Visir from hurdling to win today’s prize in 2019, and Willie Mullins did the same to win three of the four between 2015 and 2018.
Arcadian Sunrise, Bring On The Night, Lydford, Make My Day, Moon King, Pied Piper, Proschema and Scaramanga are all from that swim.
Who Dares Wins also fits the bill but is a bit long in the tooth at age 9, though Jennies Jewel did it (for the one and only time in the race’s history) in a soft-ground slog in 2016.
What platinum blushes if Gordon Elliott wins this with Pied Piper, owned by The Queen when with Team Gosden!
In fact, a four-year-old has lifted this prize only once in 15 seasons but Jamie Spencer is a good jockey booking for steering a hold-up horse through a big field.
Ryan Moore has won it three times and Bring On The Night would have been my number-one had the rains come down, though Willie Mullins insists that he’ll handle the firmish surface ok.
Scaramanga has improved dramatically over the sticks but is way behind his hurdles mark on the Flat, failing to perform at York, so 50-1 for the Cesarewitch and well beaten again.
Marshall Plan has won only once, when breaking his maiden, always a bad sign; Coltrane is 12lb higher than for his 2020 Melrose win, and is claimed off, but he was beaten only a neck in the Chester Cup (Arcadian Sunrise staying on).
Proschema has targeted this race; he won four out of five in the first four months of last year; Arcadian Sunrise, three out of four on summer ground, has wonder-boy Harry Davies to bring his weight down.
DAQMAN’S 1-2-3 (BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE offers 103%): 17.0 Proschema, 6.9 Arcadian Sunrise, 4.9 Bring On The Night
PEROTTO PREPS AT GROUP LEVEL
🎩 5.35 Royal Ascot (Wolferton Stakes, 1m 2f) STATS: See Daqman Tuesday
Britannia winner last year, Perotto, has been two or three lengths off Group success and is down in Listed class over two furlongs further. It all reads like prepping for this.
Cadillac went to the sales last night as favourite, just 12 days after scoring at Leopardstown in first-time blinkers.
Juan Elcano has also performed well in Group events after winning this race last year. Foxes Tales won at the meeting a year ago but the going was soft that day.
The 2020 Cambridgeshire winner, Majestic Dawn, was giving 4lb when beaten only half a length by Bay Bridge last backend and has just hit form at this Listed level. Of course, Bay Bridge is favourite for a Group 1 tomorrow.
Aristia is my third choice, dropping from a half–length defeat in the Group-2 Middleton at York. ‘Big’ at 23.0 this morning.
Has never been much fancied by connections, starting at huge odds in five of her six starts, yet a winner at 20-1 and 22-1 and second at 20-1.We could do with a bit of that.
DAQMAN’S 1-2-3 (BETDAQ offers 102% ): 18.5 Perotto, 13.5 Majestic Dawn, 23 Aristia
CLEVELAND COULD GET A BOOSTER
🎩 6.10 Royal Ascot (Copper Horse Handicap, 1m 6f) A win or place for Coltrane in the Ascot Stakes would boost Cleveland, who just held him in the Chester Cup.
Juan De Montalban has raised his game under Kevin De Foy, who has entered him in the Irish St Leger.
Stowell was third in the Queens Vase here last season but Aidan O’Brien relies on the one horse, Cleveland, still in the Gold Cup at the final stage but Ballydoyle will rely on one of the gambles of the week for gold, Kyprios.
DAQMAN’S 1-2-3 (BETDAQ offers 103%): 3.2 Cleveland, 6.6 Juan De Montalban, 7.6 Stowell.
DAQMAN’S BETS
3.05 Royal Ascot (win 40, win 10)
BET 1pt e.w. LATE SEPTEMBER
BET 4.75pts win BLACKBEARD
3.40 Royal Ascot (win 20)
BET 5.75pts win GOLDEN PAL
4.20 Royal Ascot (FORTUNE COOKIE)
BET 20pts win COROEBUS
5.00 Royal Ascot (2 x win-50 bull’s-eye bets)
BET 8.25pts win ARCADIAN SUNSET
BET 3pts win PROSCHEMA
BET 3pts win (stakes saver) BRING ON THE NIGHT
5.35 Royal Ascot (3 x win-50 bull’s-eye bets)
BET 4pts win MAJESTIC DAWN
BET 2.85pts win PEROTTO
BET 2.25pts win ARISTIA
6.10 Royal Ascot (win 20, nap)
BET 9pts win CLEVELAND
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.
