BULL’S-EYE! DAQMAN WINS NATIONAL: After a fabulous Flat season, Daqman arrived on the jumps scene big time yesterday with a Bull’s-Eye Bet to win 50 points on Royale Knight (WON 11-4) in the Durham National.
BIG BET’S 250 POINTS PROFIT: That takes his current Bull’s-Eye profit to 250 points. He was winning with two single bets out of three for the second day running, following Nabatean (WON 5-4) and River Deep (WON 3-1) on Wednesday. The Thursday winners were:
WON 11-4 Royale Knight
WON 5-1 Prince’s Trust
21-1 DOUBLE IN DAQ MULTIPLES: Daqman picked the wrong one for his nap, when Sharqeyih (2nd 7-4) got going too late. But, though that scuppered his 60-1 Daq Multiples treble, Royale Knight and Prince’s Trust produced a double of more than 21-1.
BREEDERS’ CUP: TRACKSIDE FROM AMERICA: Journalist in England and winning trainer in America, Stacy Stark tells Daqman today just how fast the California track will ride and what punters should look for.
GO TO WAR WITH APACHE ON THE STATS
2.05 Down Royal A cracking Grade-2, in which County Hurdle runner-up Arctic Fire takes on Triumph Hurdle winner, Tiger Roll, and Fred Winter third, Orgilgo Bay.
Little King Robin and Orgilgo Bay are both front-runners but Davy Russell’s instructions on Orgilgo Bay will be to follow Little King Robin’s lead.
Arctic Fire goes well fresh but Tiger Roll and the Triumph third behind him, Guitar Pete, have the advantage of recent runs. What bothers me is that four-year-olds have a poor strike rate (1-10) and their top two candidates are giving weight away.
2.35 Newmarket Two-year-olds have won the last eight renewals of this and, as if soft-ground-bred Apache Storm’s massive allowance from the second-season animals is not enough, Cam Hardie takes off a further 3lb., so that she gets between 19lb and 27lb from this field.
I can hear the Apache war-whoops from many an early-mouse punter as he sees a remarkable 4.6 in a 107% BETDAQ orange this morning, with Red Pike, around even-money favourite, the saver.
GOLDENCENTS A BREEDERS’ CUP BANKER
I’m looking for the iceman! In what will be a fast and furious Breeders’ Cup, nerves of steel – or, as it was put to me, ‘ice water in the veins’ – are a must to win the multi-million-dollar prizes.
I spoke to Kentucky-based Stacy Stark, former racing journalist in UK and a winning trainer in America. She told me:
“The whole state of California is in the throes of one of the worst droughts in history, and Santa Anita is fast dirt and firm (I mean really hard) turf.
The dirt track was replaced last year and word is that it plays very fair, with no inside speed bias. But horses coming over from Europe, whether to race on dirt or turf, must love a very fast surface.
I’ve noticed over the years that these races, especially the jockeys who ride in them, have a much more stressful effect on the horses. In other words, they are more nervous and keyed up and so run harder than they normally would. Much energy is expended in the beginning of the race. Then they are exhausted at the end.
The experienced jockeys – and the ones with ice water in their veins – keep their mounts relaxed and focused. They seem to have the edge.”
9.25 Santa Anita, turf (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile) Winner of the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot, Hootenanny (Frankie Dettori) steps up to a mile for the first time and stablemate Luck of The Kitten (Mike Smith), a CD winner on fast early in the month, has a more realistic chance at the trip, a front-runner who finds more when the whips are out.
Mike Smith is the iceman of the meeting, with 10 Breeders Cup wins already on his CV. He takes over Luck Of The Kitten from local hero, California’s Corey Nakatani, who made all the running on the last day and is well drawn in 3 tonight for a flyer from the gate.
Ballydoyle’s War Envoy didn’t have enough pace for the Coventry and the Railway Stakes but improved for 7f, runner-up in the Champagne at Doncaster, though it’s hard to see him having the zip for this.
Charles Hills Commemorative won a Group 3 at the Cambridgeshire meeting but Zamindar’s progeny do best with cut in the ground.
The one I like is Imperia, whose running style suggests that he can be waited with from the 11 draw. When he won the Pilgrim at Belmont Park on fast, he had winners behind in second, third, fourth and fifth. Jockey Javier Castellano has already won a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
10.05 Santa Anita (Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile) Peruvian Rafael Bejarano had last year’s Dirt Mile in the bag a long way out on Goldencents.
Golden Ticket, 10th at the half-mile pole, did well to get second, though with no chance of catching the winner and Fed Biz, favourite to beat Goldencents at Del Mar in August, was trounced more than four lengths.
Tapiture won the West Virginia Derby under redhead Rosie ‘I’m shy but a badass’ Napravnik, only the second woman jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup race. Icewoman? Maybe not. But fire maiden? ‘If the guys want to try to intimidate me; sorry, it ain’t gonna happen.’
10.50 Santa Anita, turf (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies) A Breeders’ Cup success gave Mexican Victor Espinoza his big break and his mount here, Wesley Ward’s Kentucky-based Sunset Glow has stepped up in grade (to the top) and distance, from 6f to 7f.
Can she get the mile and can she make the switch from Del Mar’s Polytrack? Her second from the front in Royal Ascot’s Albany Stakes to Moyglare winner and Lowther runner-up Cursory Glance says she’ll love fast turf, that her style would normally suit.
But there’s still the doubt about the trip and she will no doubt have to be held up, which makes a rail draw a sit-and-suffer ride for Espinoza, who must then get the breaks or make a run round the outer.
Qualify, four lengths off the winner in the Moyglare (Osaila fifth), skated up five lengths at Deauville. She’s a big filly who eats up the ground off fractions that lengthen her stride, and her outside draw may in fact help her cause. I took 7.6 early mouse on BETDAQ.
I like Wayne Lukas’s lightly raced Dynaformer filly Lady Zuzu at a big price (28.0 on BETDAQ), if she can boss this field. She stormed home six lengths over a very fast mile at Keeneland and has that ‘could be anything’ look, though needs further improvement.
The legendary Lukas has so many Breeders’ Cup trophies – 19 of them – he’s had to extend the sideboard. Five of them came in this very race.
Lukas sounded as fiery as Rosie Napravnik, despite his 79 years when he again won the Eclipse Award of Merit (his fifth): ‘You young trainers be ready because I’m not retiring. I’m coming after you so you’d better get up a little earlier from now on.’ The amazing Wayne has two more outsiders running tomorrow.
11.35 Santa Anita, dirt (Breeders’ Cup Distaff) The market would have it that ‘Badass’ Rosie, the Untapable, also looks unstoppable here on the eponymous three-year-old filly. Three-year-olds have won two of the last three runnings.
Untapable clashes with the 2013 runner-up Close Hatches, winner of back-to-back Grade 1s at Belmont on fast and Saratoga on sloppy, and may be a better filly than last year.
She’s already beaten Belle Gallantey, Stanwyck and Don’t Tell Sophia, though she suffered a reversal with that one on the last day, with Ria Antonia also in front of her.
But that recent defeat came when she was prey to the fierce fractions and her then jockey has been replaced by Joel Rosario, who has a Breeders’ Cup win in the sprint to his name.
Best outsider may be the disguised L’Amour De Ma Vie (16.0 on BETDAQ early mouse), one of two rides at this Santa Anita carnival for French ace Maxime Guyon (he’s on Flintshire in the Breeders’ Cup Turf tomorrow).
Disguised because the Dansili mare has had to contend with easier ground in Europe but won on Polytrack at Deauville and ran up to Integral on a lightning-fast surface at Royal Ascot.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 points unless otherwise stated)
BET 8.6pts win TIGER ROLL (2.05 Down Royal)
BET (to win 30 points) 8.3pts win (UK nap) APACHE STORM (2.35 Newmarket)
BET 2.5pts win IMPERIA and 2pts win LUCK OF THE KITTEN (9.25 Santa Anita)
BANKER (maximum stakes) BET 20pts win (US nap) GOLDENCENTS (10.05 Santa Anita)
BET 3pts win QUALIFY and 0.75pts win LADY ZUZU (10.50 Santa Anita)
BET 1.3pts win L’AMOUR DE MA VIE (11.35 Santa Anita)
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