STAY WITH NAPS-KING DAQMAN: With two more yesterday for a profit of 4.70 on the day, Daqman has landed 20 returns in 15 days. Yesterday’s big player was a 20-point supernap, bringing his total of winning best bets to 104 this year.
WON 8-11 STAY AWAY FAY supernap
WON (3rd 17-2) w/p NOT SURE
VALUE CHALLENGE Daqman goes into the Saturday scene, leading Pricewise 8-2, with +197.75 profit against his Racing Post rival’s loss of – 85.00
BRAVE OUTSIDER AT 10.5
⭕ 1.30 Aintree Brave Seasca won this 2m 4f chase for Venetia Williams last year and is back to around the same mark, needing his return in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter.
He has won on his second outing for two of the last three seasons, in one of them scoring with around 12st.
This is not a race for lightweights but Richmond Lake is up a stone for four small-field wins which will be put to the test today.
War Lord had a good run around two years ago but has shown not a lot since, whereas, after his hat-trick in the Spring, Heltenham landed the odds over hurdles at Wetherby in November.
Heltenham’s form figures since he had wind surgery and went chasing last autumn amount to 221111, still standing.
Betdaq Betting Exchange 4.4 Heltenham, 10.5 Brave Seasca
DUNDEE TAKES TRIAL CAKE
⭕ 1.37 Chepstow (Welsh Grand National Trial) Two of the last three Trial winners, Iwilldoit (despite being raised 10lb) and Secret Reprieve (up 4lb), went on to capture the Welsh Grand National.
They were aged six and eight and both carried less than 11st. Secret Reprieve, whose win was in 2020, came back last year and finished second to a 10st bottomweight.
Two For Gold has jumped all or part of the Grand National course on three occasions without getting involved at the business end so there’s really only the Chepstow route left for him, but today’s 12st suggests that the handicapper is not on his side.
Major Dundee, whose target is the Warwick Classic in January, is up 8lb (with a run back last month) for winning the Midlands Grand National. He dug into the deep ground and jumped well. BETDAQ 7.2
ASHTOWN LAD FOR REPEAT
⭕ 2.05 Aintree (Becher Chase): Even allowing for Danny Gilligan’s 5lb claim, only one horse has won with Coko Beach’s weight since Young Kenny in the year 2000.
Coko Beach faded two out in the Grand National after leading part of the way and was pulled up.
He was third in the Munster National this year before winning the Troytown off 153 under Gilligan; his Becher ballast contains a rise of 9lb.
Last year’s Becher winner was Ashtown Lad with Percussion in third. Percussion is 2lb better off but 6lb out of the handicap. He was also second over these National fences in the Grand Sefton last month.
Highland Hunter (2021) and The Big Breakaway (last year) have both finished second in the Welsh Grand National.
The Big Breakaway was trying to give 26lb to the winner, when beaten little more than a length at Chepstow last December but fell in the Aintree Grand National.
BETDAQ value 7.1 Ashtown Lad
BENSON AINTREE BEST BET
⭕ 3.15 Aintree Sonignino, third in a big-field Aintree hurdle at the Grand National meeting in April, took up where he left off when third after the break in another big field, this time on heavy at Chepstow. He’s crying out to have fences put in the way.
Benson, who has run well at Aintree before now, didn’t get much of a run back, because he was hampered and his saddle slipped in his first novice chase. But he should still win this, returning to hurdles. Here’s the line:
Fingal’s Hill won four in a row and was raised an overall 16lb. He’s roughly the same horse as Holmes St Georges on Newcastle form in the Spring, but that one had been hammered about 20lb by Benson when they were one-two at Musselburgh.
Benson has another 7lb off his back, thanks to the claim of Don McCain’s boy, William Maggs, who is 211 in the last two weeks, still standing.
Philip Rothwell’s raider Prince Zaltar is unusual for an Irish raider is that his best form is on better ground, yielding at worst. Others have chances but not if Benson’s in form: BETDAQ 8.3, nap
SANDOWN FORTUNE COOKIES
⭕ 2.25 Sandown This 2m handicap hurdle is a rare betting medium on a depleted card, with a Graded-race prospect, Impose Toi (BETDAQ 4.7 taken), representing our FORTUNE COOKIE list.
Impose Toi won a Cheltenham novices handicap and it’s time to play with the grown-ups now, says trainer Nicky Henderson, who is yet again unable to get a race into Constitution Hill in the Fighting Fifth (1.15) and has also withdrawn Shishkin.
The saver to Impose Toi must be Arqoob (BETDAQ 7.3), who goes well at Sandown, likes the ground and gets 10lb from Impose Toi.
⭕ 3.00 Sandown (Tingle Creek Chase) Less of a charade than the Fighting Fifth because the public likes to watch the best horses, but betting-wise the race is reduced to a match between two FORTUNE COOKIES, Jonbon and last year’s winner, Edwardstone, who tries to avenge his Shloer Chase defeat last month when Jonbon was at his slickest.
⭕ 3.35 Sandown (London National) This was still a straight-eight each-way race this morning and has a poor record for favourites (1-18).
But each-way backers beware that Cyclop could join Fortescue in defecting to the Welsh National Trial at Chepstow (1.37).
Paul Nicholls has taken this three times and Truckers Lodge has won a Midlands National and been placed in three Welsh Nationals. BETDAQ 6.6.
Fontaine Collonges won first run back last November over just short of 3m 2f but couldn’t cope with the 3m 4f+ of the Haydock Grand National trial in February.
Nor could Certainly Red prove his stamina on this course in the Sandown Gold Cup in April, when Broken Halo finished well behind.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.30 Aintree (win 20)
BET 5.75pts win HELTENHAM
BET 2pts win BRAVE SEASCA
1.37 Chepstow (win 12)
Bet 2pts win MAJOR DUNDEE
2.05 Aintree (win 12)
BET 2pts win ASHTOWN LAD
2.25 Sandown (FORTUNE COOKIE)
BET 20pts win IMPOSE TOI
BET 3pts to win 20 (saver) ARQOOB
3.00 Sandown (FORTUNE COOKIES)
BET 20pts win JONBON
BET 20pts win EDWARDSTONE
3.15 Aintree (win-50 bull’s-eye nap)
BET 6.75pts win BENSON
3.35 Sandown (win 12)
BET 2pts win TRUCKERS LODGE
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