WINNER-A-DAY DAQMAN: Daqman followed up Il Ridoto (WON 9-2) with Calico (WON 5-4) yesterday to maintain his winner a day, edging a Sunday profit to recommended stakes.
43 GRADE-1 IN 10 YEARS: Who can clear up the Cheltenham form? Willie Mullins, of course. In the last decade alone, he’s trained 43 winners of the eight Grade-1 races at the Dublin Racing Festival. Daqman starts his countdown below.
FESTIVAL ACCORDING TO WILLIE
Can the Irish help us out? Punters left with baffling results from the Cheltenham trials meeting are hoping for more convincing guides from next weekend, particularly from Willie Mullins.
The Irish Racing Festival at Leopardstown features four straight Grade-1 races on Saturday, culminating in the Irish Gold Cup.
Sunday has four more, including the Irish Champion Hurdle.
⭕ 1.55 Leopardstown, Saturday (Spring Juvenile Hurdle) Last year’s winner, Vauban, pulled off a top-flight hat-trick in the Cheltenham Triumph Hurdle and the Punchestown Champion Four-year-old Hurdle.
⭕ 2.30 Leopardstown, Saturday (Irish Arkle Novice Chase) This is the chase that launched Douvan and Energumene among five Willie Mullins winners in eight years.
Willie has eight of the 12 probables this year as he plots a hat-trick.
⭕ 3.05 Leopardstown, Saturday (Irish Gold Cup): Look out for my ABC guide later in the week.
⭕ 1.40 Leopardstown, Sunday (Grade-1 novice chase): Can Willie, who goes for a four-timer here, produce another Galopin Des Champs, who went on to win the John Durkan 13 lengths and is now favourite for both the Irish and English gold cups.
⭕ 2.10 Leopardstown, Sunday (Dublin Chase) Chacun Pour Soi, aged 11, attempts a four-timer and Willie Mullins a six-timer!
⭕ 3.10 Leopardstown, Sunday (Irish Champion Hurdle) Look out for my ABC guide later in the week.
⭕ 3.40 Leopardstown, Sunday (Novice Hurdle) It’s that man again! Mullins has won nine out of 10.
His 2021 winner, Appreciate It, subsequent star of the Supreme Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham, has two races to choose from at this weekend festival.
He’s in the Arkle on Saturday or the novice chase Sunday; either one would land a hat-trick over fences.
CAN ZOE SHOW HER FLAT ZIP?
⭕ 1.57 Punchestown This mares maiden hurdle could be key to the Albert Bartlett, though an eight-year-old has won that race only once in the decade.
French Gold Cup winner (2020) and runner-up in the Ascot version the following year after moving to Anthony Mullins, Princess Zoe makes a dramatic switch today from Group-1 Flat to the Jumps.
Pink In The Park (Willie Mullins), a mares bumper winner here at Punchestown, has twice run second over hurdles but today moves up to the trip flagged in her breeding.
This is experience from the world’s top jumps yard against class but odds on trying a new discipline. I’ll stick with Willie.
Betdaq Betting Exchange 3.25 Pink In The Park
HIS HONNEUR IS ON THE LINE
⭕ 3.00 Hereford Bill Baxter bids for a novice-chase hat-trick after climbing the handicap nearly a stone on soft-heavy from Lingfield to Kelso.
So the Milan grey (that actually comes from his dam who was a Roselier) has proved he can travel, both on the road and in his races.
A hurdles winner on heavy, Honneur D’Ajonc was pushed in at the deep-end over fences, taking on the mighty Jonbon in the Grade-1 Henry V111 novices at Sandown.
He proved that wasn’t entirely fanciful when he followed up over a longer trip with second in the Silver Fox at Leicester. Today’s 2m 5f and drop back to novice company is just the ticket.
Another French-bred, Franco d’Aunou loved the mud over hurdles but this is his first chase and his trainer, Venetia Williams, is out of form (0-15; three weeks without a winner).
BETDAQ value 4.9 Honneur D’Ajonc
JERRASH JUMPS BRED TO STAY
⭕ 3.15 Plumpton The quirky Burrows Park was Venetia Williams’ last winner but he was not very fluent and hasn’t put two strikes together for more than four years.
You can’t expect improvement from him at age 11 or from 14-year-old Kansas City Chief, though he was a CD winner last season on today’s good-to-soft ground.
I fancy the Gary Moore six-year-old Jerrash (BETDAQ 7.6), a long time absent but won when fresh last January; that was over 2m 5f at Ascot on the soft.
What catches my eye is his breeding – by Kayf Tara out of a Presenting mare – which shouts stamina, stamina; quality, quality.
Unexposed and from a yard celebrating its weekend Clarence House victory with Editeur Du Gite over Edwardstone and Energumene (I’m sorry; I’ll read that again).
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.57 Punchestown (win 12)
BET 5pts win PINK IN THE PARK
3.00 Hereford (win 12, nap)
BET 3pts win HONNEUR D’AJONC
3.15 Plumpton (win 20)
BET 3pts win JERRASH
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.
Did you know? DAQMAN’s tips are posted each and every day so he’s always on hand to help with your horse racing betting.
