100 STRIKE! DAQMAN BAGS SECOND WEEKEND BULL’S-EYE BET: The bigger the field the bigger the certainty that Daqman will nail the race! After 14-1 Oxted in Saturday’s Portland at Doncaster (22 ran), he yesterday made it 2-2, landing Buffer Zone an 11-2 winner of the 24-strong field for the Bold Lad Sprint at the Curragh. Both were in the opening race of the day, both were win-50 bull’s-eye bets and both were better bets at BETDAQ morning offers:
WON 11-2 BUFFER ZONE, Sunday (from 12.0 on BETDAQ)
WON 14-1 OXTED, Saturday (from 20.0 on BETDAQ)
HE GOES ON TO LAND FOUR SUPER WINNERS IN SUNDAY SPREE: But success didn’t stop there. There was no buffer against Daqman as he remained in the winning zone and won the Blandford Stakes, the Prix Vermeille and the Prix Niel across the cards at Longchamp and the Curragh.
WON 11-2 BUFFER ZONE
WON 3-1 TARNAWA
WON 6-5 STAR CATCHER
WON 1-2 SOTTSASS (supernap)
PINATUBO ANNIHILATES NATIONAL STAKES FIELD NINE LENGTHS: There were champion performances at the Curragh and at Longchamp yesterday, which Daqman discusses below, but none will be talked about more than Pinatubo’s nine-lengths annihilation of the National Stakes field.
Daqman has to go back to the drawing board now to rate the two-year-olds.
He says: ‘It will be a case of how far behind Pinatubo!’
GOSDEN STAR WINS THE VERMEILLE
Can’t catch her! Star Catcher, who made all in the Irish Oaks, never saw another filly from the front of the Prix Vermeille field at Longchamp yesterday, as Frankie Dettori’s amazing season goes on and on, defying logic, or rather including Saturday’s St Leger winner, Logician.
Frankie’s Group-1 season began on May 1 aboard Anapurna, who would go on to win him the Epsom Oaks. After that it was may day, may day, for the rest of jockeydom.
Don’t write off Anapurna (Frankel’s first british Classic winner), who was crowded out of contention in the Vermeille, and has another big one in her. We may have to choose between Anapurna and Star Catcher again in the British Champion Fillies And Mares.
Meanwhile, Ryan Moore, so often out in the cold this year, steered two fillies of his own to victory yesterday, Fairyland (Flying Five) and Love (Moyglare) bouncing back, as Aidan O’Brien’s so often do.
There was a more sensational double when Chris Hayes followed up on Dermot Weld’s Tarnawa (Blandford) with a seize-the-day disposal from the front of the Irish St Leger field via Search For A Song.
Sotsass (Prix Niel) and Waldgeist (Prix Foy) completed their Arc preparations, both untroubled to score in their trials at Longchamp.
⚠️ HEADS UP: Though Logician beat nothing well in the Doncaster St Leger, the manner of his success suggests a big future if he can carry on his belated development. He ran the first half of the race like a green two-year-old: or maybe the Frankel genes were demanding he go hareing off into oblivion.
Only Frankie Dettori’s skill kept his head, and therefore his brain, under control, so able to deliver a big late burst and reveal stamina which Frankel denied himself through his exuberance.
⚠️ HEADS UP: Magical was scintillating in the Irish Champion Stakes but the time was slow, so her speed finish was made to look impressive.
She beat a nearly horse in Magic Wand (12 straight defeats including a bridesmaid seven seconds!) and, after Sir Dragonet’s failure at two different trips, the third horse at Leopardstown yesterday, Anthony Van Dyck, finally condemned this year’s Epsom Derby.
TAKING AIM AT BRIGHTON
2.10 Brighton To say that Great Aim is a ‘moral winner’ now in a maiden race night be stretching things a little too far but there was plenty to like about his debut at Lingfield where he finished a close-up fourth – despite being carried wide on the turn for home.
I’ve watched that race again this morning and think he may well have forfeited more ground that he was beaten by. That’s all academic but what looks more certain is that he will improve plenty for that run and the James Tate stable remain in great form with 6 winners from their past 19 runners in the past two weeks.
Simply Susan has basically run the same race twice – finishing second at Bath twice and there was no significant improvement on her second start, so she needs to improve for the step up in trip.
Never In Red is the most experienced runner who is also now up in trip but was well held at Chelmsford last time out and there is also a question mark over the current form of his trainer.
2.30 Thirsk Up 4lb in the handicap and racing over a longer trip is enough for me to serve Prissy Missy despite her consistency.
At bigger odds I’ll take a chance with the Richard Fahey trained Mr Gus who is fitted with first time cheekpieces and is still relatively unexposed.
The quicker ground is also a positive and he’s an each way pick for me with a WIN 10 stake in both the win and place markets.
3.10 Brighton Proven course experience counts for plenty around Brighton – a course where more horses seem to dislike the idiosyncratic contours.
King Athelstan is a previous course winner who has been steadily dropping down the weights and is now on the same mark of 54 which gave him a first career win here last summer.
His win to run ratio is low so it’s risky but he is still preferred to It’s How We Roll who has gone the other way in the handicap after winning at Windsor and Brother In Arms who may be stretched by this trip.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 10 points each including place bet)
BET 5.5pts win (nap) GREAT AIM (2.10 Brighton)
BET 1.7pts win and 5.0pts place MR GUS (2.30 Thirsk)
BET 3.9pts win KING ATHELSTAN (3.10 Brighton)
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