TWO OUT OF THREE INCLUDING THE NAP: Daqman woke up the layers with a cat nap at Chelmsford last night plus a special place bet which gave him two returns from three races and put him nearly 19 points up on the day. Jumping Cats (WON 5-6)!
FROSTY START TO TWO-YEAR-OLD TESTS: Today he turns the spotlight on the two-year-old trials card at Newmarket, ahead of tomorrow’s Cesarewitch. The headlines:
A TRUE LINE TO THE FILLIES
WINTER BACK WITH FROSTY
TRY 7.0 MANKIB TO IMPROVE
SHAMBOLIC GOSDEN’S PICK
A TRUE LINE TO THE FILLIES
1.50 Newmarket (Cornwallis Stakes) Fillies, who have won this three of the last four years – and five of the last eight – are dominating the juvenile tests right now.
But the two, Poetry and Heartwarming, who lead the attack on the gambled-on colts today don’t look quite good enough.
Within a pound of each other are True Mason for one of the trainers of the season Karl Burke, and Sergei Prokofiev for Aidan O’Brien, still smarting from his sequence of 16 consecutive losers at the Arc meeting.
O’Brien has never won this race; Karl Burke has done so with Quiet Reflection who took top sprint prizes the following year.
True Mason was beaten by fillies in both the Robert Papin (Signora Cabello) and the Prix Morny (Pretty Pollyanna). And Sergei Prokofiev has twice let down the form of the Coventry Stakes, in which he was third to Calyx.
Poetry has to step up from a Listed success at Chantilly – she’s rated two stone behind Sergei – and Heartwarming was beaten in her Listed by a filly who could finish only 10th to Signora Cabello in the Queen Mary.
The ratings say that the weight concession by 110 Sergei Prokofiev and 109 True Mason is not enough for the fillies, but victory for True Mason (5.0 on BETDAQ as I write) means that they win this by default on collateral form.
WINTER BACK WITH FROSTY
2.25 Newmarket (Oh So Sharp Stakes) This race has produced only Miss France (2013 Guineas) as a filly of any renown in recent years.
Ralph Beckett (2), Roger Varian and Aidan O’Brien, who saddles Dundalk winner Frosty, aptly named sister to Winter, have all won it before.
Glance, from the line of Beckett’s Oaks winner, Look Here, had Mot Juste (Varian) behind at Goodwood before that one took apart a 14-runner field at Beverley by seven lengths.
The second filly home at Goodwood, Sunday Star, was said to have been intimidated that day but I notice she drifted off a line again when following up here at Newmarket over today’s CD.
The Scat Daddy filly Hidden Message scooted up at Yarmouth but is still being handled with kid gloves and is hooded today.
TRY 7.0 MANKIB TO IMPROVE
3.00 Newmarket (Challenge Stakes) When Limato took this last year, he seemed all set for the big time but flopped in, consecutively, the Lockinge, Queen Anne and July Cup this season, before dropping back to Listed level for back-to-back wins.
D’bai has been a nearly horse at the top level, static and unable to shake off a Group-3 label, with the same rating today that he had a year ago.
Mankib was also static until his rating was boosted through the handicap roof by his Newbury success at a Listed level.
He has to improve again now, with conditions likely to be in his favour, or there’s nowhere to go: 7.0 win and three places from eight runners as insurance.
SHAMBOLIC GOSDEN’S PICK
3.35 Newmarket (Fillies Mile) Cornwallis success for True Mason could give a Prix Morny boost to Pretty Pollyana, now ridden by Danny Tudhope after her defeat in the Cheveley Park off 117, for which Silvestre De Sousa was blamed.
The Cheveley Park winner was the then 107 rated Ballydoyle filly, Fairyland, and today’s Aidan O’Brien stablemates, Hermosa (108) and Zagitova (104), therefore seem just as capable of turning Polly over.
Hermosa was third in the Moyglare before going clear in the final furlong of a Group 3 at Naas.
Zagitova, a neck behind Hermosa in the Moyglare, raced unevenly, struggling with the pace at one stage, then hampered in the final furlong.
Add Beyond Reason, and you have four youngsters who have appeared a total of 20 times, which has me choosing for value between the unbeaten pair, Antonio De Vega and Shambolic as likely to take a big step forward from just two runs each.
Recent winners of this, Minding, Rhododendron and Laurens have all gone to the very top, so I want something unexposed that can make her mark today.
Antonio De Vega beat Zagitova when winning her maiden in July, then needed all of the 7f of the Prestige Stakes at Goodwood to get on top.
The 13.5 BETDAQ offer Shambolic has already moved up from her 7f maiden to score over a mile at Ascot.
There was nothing spectacular about it but she is the choice of John Gosden in this £6m championship year from four prospective runners.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.50 Newmarket (win 30)
BET 7.5pts win (nap) TRUE MASON
2.25 Newmarket (win 20 and win 10)
BET 9pts win FROSTY
BET 1.5pts win and place SUNDAY STAR
2.40 York (win 20)
BET 4.25pts win UAE PRINCE (5.6 offers)
BET 1pt win and place MIKMAK (18.5)
3.00 Newmarket (win 20)
BET 3.25pts win and place MANKIB
3.35 Newmarket (win 30 and win 10)
BET 2.4pts win and place SHAMBOLIC
BET 4pts win HERMOSA
4.10 Newmarket (win 30)
BET 2pts win and place BEN VRACKIE
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
