DAQMAN VERDICT ON THREE BIG HANDICAPS
▶️ GOODWOOD THE STORY SO FAR: Goodwood is all about John Gosden and Mark Johnston. Daqman compares the Gosden millions with Johnston’s first big step up the ladder.
BACK CHOICE 64.0 DE SOUSA RIDE: What’s the story of this year’s Golden Mile? Therein lies the clue. But huge BETDAQ offers of 64.0 hide one plot to win the race.
▶️ GALWAY THE STORY SO FAR: Stats for the first four days at the Galway Races reveal a resurgence by Joseph O’Brien but that man Willie Mullins has already taken big scalps.
JOSEPH GETS IN ON THE BLAZERS ACT: Let’s follow Joseph in the Galway Blazers, but our own BETDAQ ambassador, Gavin Cromwell, could sing from the Top of The Charts.
THE CURRENT DAQMAN RECORDS
Daqman 52 Pricewise 25 (Daqman 375 points clear to 10pt stakes)
Bull’s-eye naps (6-12) 264 points up to recommended stakes
Supernaps (16-22) 118 points up to 20pt stakes
Today’s supernap is in the 1.50 Goodwood
GOODWOOD: THE STORY SO FAR
Goodwood godsend. With the Goodwood Cup (£283,550) and the Sussex Stakes (£593,391) following on Enable’s King George (£708,875) on Saturday, John Gosden has won more in five days than most trainers in a lifetime.
Indeed, as the Mark Johnston flying machine circles the Sussex air yet again, we recall that it’s just 25 years since he celebrated a million in earnings in one season. Now that season’s haul in 1994 can be done in less than a week.
Ironically, if she bet to redeem the pound she lost at Royal Ascot, then Mark’s wife, Deidre, would have opposed Gosden’s Mehdaayih yesterday and landed her own ‘touch’ as her Japanese namesake won the Nassau Stakes at 20-1.
3pts win, 2 second and 1 third Goodwood this week
Trainers Mark Johnston 19, John Gosden 11, Aidan O’Brien 8, Clive Cox 7, John Quinn 6, Charlie Appleby 5, Richard Hannon 5, David O’Meara 4, Richard Fahey 4, Charles Hills 4,
Jockeys Frankie Dettori 16, P J MacDonald 13, Ryan Moore 13, Silvestre De Sousa 11, James Doyle 6, Tom Marquand 5, Franny Norton 5, Oisin Murphy 4, Daniel Tudhope 4.
BACK CHOICE 64.0 DE SOUSA RIDE
3.00 Goodwood (Golden Mile) Handicap winners have come out of the blue this week, and that’s what often happens here, with also-rans in the Royal Hunt Cup winning it 10 times but the one-two at Ascot (Afaak and Clan Coulis this year) unable to follow up.
The difference is between a straight mile and an undulating track, and I’ll take a low draw round that right-hand elbow, a trainer in form and a jockey who knows what he’s doing (don’t get me ranting; there have been some stinking rides this week).
So is it Mojito or Baltic Baron? Or maybe the local horse, Zhui Feng, who is 6lb lower than when leading until the final furlong in this in 2017.
Original Choice was third in 2018 from a very wide draw, so stall 8 (rather than last year’s 17) will be helpful and, just as top jock James Doyle was booked by William Haggas last year, so new trainer Nick Littmoden has engaged Silvestre De Sousa this time round.
He and last year’s winner, Seniority, are very close now at the weights but Seniority – in gate 3 last year – has to get through the wall from stall 11.
Mojito made all in a top handicap on Eclipse day at Sandown. Baltic Baron looks hard to win with; now equipped with a visor. Zhui Feng may have lost his zip but could be placed.
Unplaced in the Royal Hunt Cup? That would have to be What’s The Story (well drawn in 3), War Glory (ditto in 4) or Vale Of Kent, who carries a penalty for winning the Bunbury Cup. That leaves him 2lb well in but he’ll have to use up a lot of energy for a 7f winner to beat these down the outside from stall 17.
VERDICT: Mojito is high in the handicap now, but holds Escobar; both carry penalties; both have to improve again, as have Beat Le Bon and Game Player, both up a furlong from course wins over 7f.
What’s The Story doesn’t know how to run a bad race. Hampered at York on the last day; didn’t like the soft ground in the Hunt Cup. This could be third time lucky from stall 2.
Dark Vision is the hidden horse, who could defy the draw, modest recent form figures (030404) but sticking on well over 1m 2f on the last day. Won the Group-2 Vintage Stakes at this meeting last year.
ORDER-IN: 1 What’s The Story (around 16.0 on BETDAQ), 2 Dark Vision (16.0), 3 Mojito, 4 Original Choice (64.0), 5 Seniority.
1.50 and 3.35 Goodwood Hat-trick-seeking Battaash has frightened away the King George sprint (3.35) opposition and is long odds on, 12lb clear in the ratings.
Battaash was three when he first won it and the improver of that age today is the French raider Big Brother’s Pride (15.0, the place to save the win stake).
I shall supernap Sir Michael Stoute’s Jubiloso (1.50), third in a Group 1 at Royal Ascot on only his third start.
GALWAY: THE STORY SO FAR
3pts win, 2 second and 1 third Galway this week
Trainers Willie Mullins 25, Joseph O’Brien 17 Gordon Elliott 10, Dermot Weld 9, Charles Byrnes 8, Jessica Harrington 8, Aidan O’Brien 7, Tony Martin 6, Emmett Mullins 6, Matthew J Smith 6, Denis Gerard Hogan 5, Henry de Bromhead 4, J Larkin 4.
Jockeys Paul Townend 12, Colin Keane 11, Donnacha O’Brien 9, David Mullins 8, Davy Russell 8, J J Slevin 7, W J Lee 6, Derek O’Connor 6, Shane Foley 6, Robbie Power 6, Robbie Colgan 4, Chris Hayes 4,
JOSEPH GETS IN ON THE BLAZERS ACT
6.15 Galway Blazers If this is to go to a horse below the age of nine (as in the last seven seasons), then we have a ready-made shortlist of Minella Beau,
Tesseract, Mindsmadeup, Treasure Chest and Top of The Charts.
I can’t fancy Mindsmadeup (strike rate 1-15) but the others tick more than one of my boxes: improver who is in form and from an in-form yard, who likes the track and seems nicely weighted.
Minella Beau (Willie Mullins), a maiden hurdle winner at this meeting in 2017, won the beginners’ chase a year ago and comes back fresh after some tough tasks since. A festival hat-trick is highly likely.
Tesseract and Treasure Chest are both saddled by Joseph O’Brien, with 7.4 BETDAQ offer Tesseract the Galway beginners’ winner in 2017 and only a neck off taking the Midlands National at Kilbeggan on the last day.
The worries about his J P McManus stablemate Treasure Chest is that he had to be dropped back to the minimum to land back-to-back wins this summer, and is penalised a total of 11lb.
Top Of The Charts would be a second Galway winner this week for BETDAQ ambassador Gavin Cromwell, who also had a near miss with my Galway Mile runner-up, Innamorare.
He is perhaps just as keen on Mac N Cheese and incredible that he has two chances in this race, placed so perfectly in the handicap.
‘Charts’ has no experience of Galway but goes for a hat-trick under Jonathan Moore, after scoring right-handed at Wexford (sharp track) and Perth.
The Wexford win in a big field was not without jumping mishaps and, unless Gavin has straightened him out a bit, you can expect some hairy moments. Says Jonathan: ‘He’s a little bit of a monkey and got behind a bit but, in fact, jumped well everywhere, barring the last two.’
That was around 3m. This is shorter and potentially faster. He’s up in the ratings but not in the weights in stronger company today, likely to carry 10lb less than at Wexford (but still plenty of room down to Jonathan’s lowest riding weight).
Mac N Cheese, huge at 21.0 this morning, won at the Punchestown festival under Jonathan Moore and again when fourth in the Connacht National, but scored again (giving around a stone to the runner-up), when ridden by claimer J B Kane at Bellewstown in a hurdles prep for today.
TAKE THIS BETDAQ 14.5! IT’S LEGAL
6.50 Galway (Guinness Handicap) Willie Mullins (3) and Tony Martin (2) have shared this prize in the last five years, and their three runners are hard to resist here.
Mr Adjudicator is the right age (five-year-olds 7-9), was unlucky here on Monday when hampered, but has not won at today’s shorter trip for nearly two years.
Stablemate Legal Spin was in rear in that handicap on Monday but was a close second trying to make all over 2m at the Curragh first run back. Very lightly raced.
Three-year-olds don’t win it (famous last words) and Camphor has been severely punished for scoring on the last day. Needs to show a touch of class, and may have it!
War Diary may want a bit of juice in the ground and gate 11 is no help. The stats say that eight winners in the decade came from stalls 2 to 8.
I took the massive 14.5 Legal Spin on BETDAQ with yesterday’s winner, Tudor City, still in the race. But Mr Adjudicator was feared.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.50 Goodwood (supernap)
BET 20pts win JUBILOSO
3.00 Goodwood (win 50 bull’s-eye bets, 10 place)
BET 3.3pts win and place WHAT’S THE STORY
BET 3.3pts win and place DARK VISION
BET 0.75pts win and 1pt place ORIGINAL CHOICE
3.35 Goodwood (win 30)
BET 2pts win and place BIG BROTHER‘S PRIDE
6.15 Galway (win 30, win 10)
BET 4.7pts win TESSERACT
BET 1.5pts win and 3pts place MAC N CHEESE
BET 2pts win TOP OF THE CHARTS
6.50 Galway (win 50 bull’s-eye bet, win 30)
BET 3.75pts win LEGAL SPIN
BET 10pts win MR ADJUDICATOR
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