DAQMAN GAMBLE LANDS THE NAP: Winner-a-day Daqman made a profit for the second day running yesterday, thanks to his celebrated staking plan and BETDAQ offers. Thursday’s 25-lengths winner was gambled on to be his first successful nap of 2024, following a total score of 111 in the year just ended.
WON 4-7 HILL OF TARA (Thursday nap) from 2.35 on BETDAQ
WON 7-2 LISEO (Wednesday).
❌ SANDOWN HAS GONE: Sandown’s Saturday card has been abandoned, and the only Jumps meeting left in England – at Wincanton – is subject to an inspection at 8am.
☀️ SUNNY IN IRELAND: Better weather news for Irish trainers and racetracks there, looking ahead to the Dublin festival.
🐦 EARLY-BIRD DAQMAN: Daqman’s bets today are early, concentrated in 45 minutes’ racing between Southwell and Musselburgh.
SUNNY DAYS AHEAD FOR WILLIE
What’s this golden disc in the sky? The ‘mainly dry and sunny’ forecast for much of Ireland today and tomorrow is also the forecast there for the weekend of February 3rd and 4th. Have English trainers noticed?
Storm Henk, a 300-mile wall of heavy rain across England, splinters as it hits SW Ireland, sending a spur of bad weather right up along Kerry and Clare to Galway, but mainly skirting Cork in the south.
Mainland Eire, particularly Dublin, is sunny with showers and, says the Met Office, that is the direction of travel into February, because of where the storms are forming. Westerly Atlantic conditions are in charge with very strong winds across southern England.
It means that the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown on Saturday and Sunday, February 3rd and 4th, could take on a new significance on the road to Cheltenham.
The last two Dublin festivals have been run on yielding ground at worst (they even watered last year!) and a hat-trick of good jumping ground looks like happening again.
I expect to see horses such as Hewick take their Cheltenham and Aintree preps at the Leopardstown extravaganza and English stables would do well to travel over, if only to check out Willie Mullins massive defence there.
From Closutton, little more than an hour south of Leopardstown, Willie has sent out 59 winners in 11 renewals of the Dublin Festival, after a hat-trick on the Saturday last season and five on day two, Sunday.
See How They Run: Next week I shall start my ‘where the winners come from’ survey of Cheltenham Festival results by checking out the Dublin Festival returns.
BELCAMO TO BOOST BALDING
⭕ 12.37 Southwell Andrew Balding, a trainer who is capable of a long winning run, fell flat towards the end of December, with the starting price of some of his runners alarming at 14-1, 18-1 (twice), 22-1, 25-1, 33-1 and even 125-1.
But yesterday there was an abrupt return to form with two winners from three to line up at odds of 5-4, 7-2 and 13-2.
Last night, he left only Belcamo in at Southwell today and there was money for him immediately the books were opened, and 5.2 offers on BETDAQ this morning.
William Haggas has two runners: Solomon (11.32) is hooded in any earlier race but, like Belcamo, his Clear Storm in this 12.37 maiden finished third in the autumn.
A bigger threat to Belcamo may be Character Testing, though I don’t like to see form figures of 2222, in themselves surely a test of the horses’ character.
BUXTED LOOKING BIG AT 21.0
⭕ 1.12 Southwell A fair-quality (class 3) handicap, going round the bend at Southwell (!), looks ideal for betting on low-draw starters.
Out of the one stall, Heathen has scored twice off 74, including over the CD and, raised to 80 only a week ago, was beaten just a head in a big field by an Ian Williams runner..
The Williams yard, which has had four winners in the last week, runs Buxted Too out of stall 3, and you need to watch the market.
Buxted Too landed a four-timer in January-February last year, and is a pound lower than for a subsequent success in March, always well backed. He started 50-1 and 33-1 in the autumn after a break, and is worth an early interest at Betdaq Betting Exchange 21.0 before you let the market speak.
From stall 2, Chase The Dollar has won on the course but over further (1m 6f) and needs 2m these days.
Haku (gate 4) landed a low-level hat-trick last autumn but could change gear in first-time cheekpieces. Night Bear (6) drops back to his winning trip but is still 11lb higher.
Rhythmic Intent (5) looked more like his old self the last day but you have to forgive a 14-race losing run.
GROZNI SET TO MAKE THE GRADE
⭕ 1.20 Musselburgh Newmarket trainer James Owen, who has been put on the map by one of the Triumph Hurdle favourites, Burdett Road, pays his first trip to Musselburgh today.
He has Uncle Arthur (2.30) in a very tight looking novices’ handicap hurdle later on, as one of seven in the race rated between 90 and 95.
But it’s in this novices’ handicap chase (1.20) that his chances with Grozni seem to stand out.
Grozni (BETDAQ 2.9) earned his 130 rating by placing four times out of five for Charles Byrnes, winning at Downpatrick.
Three of his five opponents today all pulled up the last day. The two remaining are from the same stable, Garde Des Champs (strike rate 1-16) and the mare I Am Gonna Be (success on good to soft but not soft)
DAQMAN’S BETS
12.37 Southwell (win 12)
BET 3pts win BELCAMO
1.12 Southwell (win 20, win 10)
BET 1pt win and place BUXTED TOO
BET 4pts win HEATHEN
1.20 Musselburgh (win 12, nap)
BET 6pts win GROZNI
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.
