7-2 WINNER PUTS DAQMAN ON 10: Scarpia was clear when he cocked his jaw and ran through the wing at Doncaster yesterday, but Daqman already had his winner a day in the bag at the same meeting, a rewarding 7-2. That makes 10 winners in six days.
WON 7-2 THE UNIT (Thursday)
WON 6-4 PONT AVEN (Wednesday nap)
WON 5-4 ROXZOFF (Tuesday)
WON 11-10 HOMETOWN HERO (Tuesday nap)
WON 7-2 FOX POWER (Monday)
WON 17-2 THE BIG GALLOPER (Sunday at 14.0) plus 4-9, 1-5 winners
WON 6-1 GREEN BOOK (Saturday)
WON 8-13 L’HOMME PRESSE (Saturday Fortune Cookie)
TODAY: Top five in the big Saturday hurdle, according to the stats, and a 12.5 bull’s-eye bet on BETDAQ.
WINNER-IN-FIVE PREVIEW
⭕ 3.35 Newbury, Grade-3 hurdle, tomorrow Horses aged five and six have won Saturday’s big hurdle for 16 consecutive seasons so, including two years without a race, you have to go back to 2004 to find an older horse winning.
Famously the Schweppes and then the Tote Gold Trophy, the race was controversial from the beginning when plotted by Sussex trainer, Captain Ryan Price, with four wins out of five.
Persian War in 1968 and Make A Stand (1997) went on from winning this to taking the Champion Hurdle but My Tent Or Yours (2013) was three times runner-up in the big one at Cheltenham.
Leading trainer and jockey in recent times are Nigel Twiston-Davies and son Sam, who team up tomorrow with I Like To Move It.
Soaring Glory won the race last year, but – like similarly named Glory And Fortune – is seven now. The going is likely to be on the soft side of good.
ABC top five:
Broomfield Burg Seemingly Nico De Boinville’s choice of the Nicky Henderson runners, the J P McManus gelding has rarely been out of the picture, including second here in November and impressive 10-lengths winner at Kempton on Boxing Day.
First Street Another unexposed Nicky Henderson runner, another to have won at Kempton the last day, going clear when benefitting from wind surgery.
Henderson had the runner-up as well that day so he alone knows the strength of the form.
I Like To Move It Trainer and jockey son both do well in this and his rider Sam Twiston-Davies has described the five-year-old as ‘scary good’ and ‘exciting’ after he ‘jumped superbly’ to win at Cheltenham in November. Missed Christmas dates to wait for better ground and this £87,000 prize.
Knappers Hill Paul Nicholls’ stable is under a cloud and this one has to emerge from the novice ranks, well beaten (behind Jonbon) when tried in a Grade-2 novices at Ascot in December.
Tritonic Won three hurdles last year, two at graded level. Only fifth in the Greatwood but won a similar handicap to today’s at Ascot the week before Christmas.
BAY CHELTENHAM POINTER
⭕ 1.55 Bangor today I’ll see if my hunter-chase luck holds after Pont Aven landed my nap on Wednesday.
Today it’s the turn of classy Porlock Bay to score for the first time since winning the Festival Challenge Cup at Cheltenham last March, foiling a huge gamble on Willie Mullins’s Billaway, who would afterwards be pipped a nose in the Punchestown Champion Hunters Chase.
Porlock Bay has his last race today before defending his Cheltenham title, after a warm-up second in a Point before Christmas.
Both the ratings and the market suggest it’s a two-horse race with Portlock Bay a 7lb better in the ratings than Another Venture, whom he meets at level weights.
GINGE FRINGE BET AT 12.5
⭕ 4.05 Kempton Smarty Wild is within 4lb of the mark off which he won over the Kempton CD last January and he’s been placed twice on the course since, lacking fluency in his jumping or he might be on a winning sequence here.
Flegmatik has a problem, not yet solved by wind surgery and tongue-tie. Maybe today’s the day, down in grade after facing stronger opposition last time.
Mellow Ben has dropped a stone since last year at this time and is down 25lb since his hey-day in the autumn of 2019.
Colonial Dreams has some decent novice form but gradual improvement was halted by heavy ground at Lingfield in January in a race won by one who had taken on Threeunderthrufive and Fantastikas in his two previous chases.
Colonel Dreams is level peggings in the ratings with his Nicky Henderson stablemate Morning Vicar, whose best form has been at around 2m 4f.
I shall take a chance that wind ops will help The Hollow Ginge, fourth in the 2020 Ladbrokes Chase, and back to form in the autumn when just pipped at Cheltenham in a class 2 on good ground. He’s down a grade but needs a strong pace.
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE 12.5 The Hollow Ginge
JUNGLE DRUMS FOR JACK
⭕ 4.15 Bangor Jungle Jack is a big, strong animal who has been cleverly placed to set up a sequence by Donald McCain (116 winners for the season) and Brian Hughes (153).
He can complete a hurdles hat-trick here and go on to better things; Aintree is on the horizon.
Olly Murphy has landed a winner a day in the last three days and Duke Of Rockingham gets 10lb from the favourite.
But the substance of his two hurdles runs – both seconds – is called into question by lengthy defeats before and after by the two others placed in each race.
Winner and third at Wincanton had been beaten 123 lengths in total last time out; winner and third at Lingfield were beaten a total of 33 lengths next time out.
Oliver Greenall runs three, and Monte Igueldo could improve on his two runs in Britain, and split the two favourites.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.55 Bangor (supernap)
Bet 12pts win PORLOCK BAY
4.04 Kempton (win 50)
Bull’s-eye-bet 4.25pts win THE HOLLOW GINGE
4.15 Bangor (win 10)
Bet 10pts win JUNGLE JACK
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.
