LUCKY 13 WINNERS FOR DAQMAN: Daqman maintained his winner-a-day average with 13 in the last 10 days when Inneston held on by a head at Sandown yesterday.
WON 11-4 INNESTON
THERE’S A SUPERNAP AT KELSO: Today’s bets are spread across Kelso (supernap), Lingfield and Southwell but first Daqman previews Saturday’s Ascot Chase.
SHISHKIN RATES 10lb CLEAR
⭕ 3.35 Ascot, tomorrow (Ascot Chase preview) STATS (2m 5f Grade 1): TRAINERS: Paul Nicholls has won this with Slviniaco Conti (2016) and Cyrname (2019) and Joseph O’Brien scored last year with Fakir D’Oudairies.
FAVOURITES: 6-10 favourites have won and no winner has started bigger than 4-1 SP in the decade.
WINNER’S RATING: 165 169 162 164 170 164 165 162 158 164 (last year)
174 SHISHKIN (Nicky Henderson) A second wind op, with tongue-tie added now, after pulling up at the Cheltenham Festival and 15-lengths third in the Tingle Creek on his return in December. Had won seven-in-a-row small-field chases before that.
164 FAKIR D’OUDAIRIES (Joseph O’Brien) Last year’s winner remains on the same mark, despite following up in the Melling Chase at Aintree, and this season running up to Galopin Des Champs at Punchestown and winning a Thurles Grade 2 six lengths.
162 PIC D’ORHY (Paul Nicholls) I saw him as ‘the new Frodon’ after winning the Pendil at Kempton last February (unbeaten since, barring wind problem at Aintree National meeting) and the Silviniaco Conti back at Kempton last month. Has to step up a grade.
158 FIRST FLOW (Kim Bailey) Last year 19 lengths behind Shishkin in the Clarence House and more than seven lengths off Pic D’Orhy in the Peterborough Chase in December. Won 7-9 before that but clearly has work to do at age 11.
155 MILLERS BANK (Alex Hales) Has twice finished within a length or two of Pic D’Orhy (at Kempton and Huntingdon; Grade 2) and always rear in the King George. Wind op for second January running may help
154 AYE RIGHT (Harriet Graham) Another who qualifies for veteran races, the 10-year-old was placed four times in Grade 2 and 3 but winning form is at Listed level (Rehearsal Chase, Newcastle, November 21)
DON DUBS DRAMA AS GRADE 1
⭕ 3.05 Kelso, today Such a shame when three races in a row, better quality (class 2 and 3) than the usual round, can muster just 14 runners in total for nearly £30,000 to the winners overall.
Minella Drama is weighted well above all 14 of them. He is also rightly named. There’s always drama when he’s around other horses; his tail spins like a windmill.
So it is that Don McCain and Brian Hughes have tried to be one step ahead, taking the steam out of him, and the others at the same time, by sending him to the front and making him work away from the others.
Result, he finished more than six lengths clear at Musselburgh on New Year’s Day, making all.
The runner-up, Cooper’s Cross, went on to win the Great Yorkshire at Doncaster and is now a 133. That makes Minella Drama strictly 156.
And makes giving away 10lb to Elvis Mail, who was third in that Great Yorkshire, no sweat; no drama at all.
In fact, trainer McCain regards this horse as Grade 1. It would not be tilting at windmills to tackle a decent race at Aintree in the Spring.
Betdaq Betting Exchange 2.58 Minella Drama
5.3 ON BETDAQ IS A CORKER
⭕ 3.35 Kelso Another Hughes-McCain player, Barrichello has been placed 13 times in 16 races, and has been given a chance today, dropped down below his last winning mark.
He can’t beat West Cork on a line from Scottish Champion Hurdle form but the cork is back in the bottle after Dan Skelton’s nine-year-old twice failed to finish over fences since finding Stage Star and then Jonbon better class in the autumn.
West Cork has class -County Hurdle fourth – and now has the benefit of a second wind op. The 5.3 on BETDAQ this morning is the value in the race.
The favourite, CD-winner Dancewiththewind, is relatively unexposed and performed well under Edward Austin (5lb off) the last day.
FARASI IS IN THE FAST LANE
⭕ 3.20 Lingfield This mile handicap is a new race for Lingfield but Lingfield at eight furlongs is not new to Unforgotten (off 86 when he won over CD), Starshiba (CD off 75, two grades lower) and Darwell Lion (CD 85).
All are, therefore, up in the handicap and I wonder if Farasi Lane (BETDAQ 7.1) can now deal with them, down 10lb on his early races of last year, and better off with the winner, Unforgotten, after being hampered out of it two furlongs out on the last day.
Several of these, including Lord Rapscallion have been campaigned mainly at 7f. Laredo, who beat him at Epsom, is also best at 7f.
⭕ 6.15 Southwell Midnightattheoasis has improved with every race, winning over the CD here three weeks back with some ease.
Arbaawi and Lady Nagin are also CD winners, but Arbaawi is in an out and Lady Nagin has been punished 8lb for breaking the ice here at Southwell.
BETDAQ value 2.48 Midnightattheoasis
DAQMAN’S BETS
3.05 Kelso (win 20 supernap)
BET 12.5pts win MINELLA DRAMA
3.20 Lingfield (win 12)
BET 2pts win FARASI LANE
3.35 Kelso (win 10)
BET 2.3pts win WEST CORK
6.15 Southwell (win 10)
BET 6.75pts win MIDNIGHTATTHEOASIS
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