BETDAQ REALITY SHOW WAY AHEAD OF SP AS DAQMAN GOES 27-12 UP: Daqman’s 1-2-3 had three of the first four home in the big race at Deauville yesterday, though without a bet on the winner, Space Blues (22-5). But he broke back in another Group event, taking the Sovereign Stakes at Salisbury with a bull’s-eye bet on Regal Reality (WON 7-1 from 10.0 BETDAQ). That puts him 27-12 in front of Pricewise on winners in their value challenge, and 261.77 ahead to level stakes at SP. Today Daqman highlights the return of Chester.
Headlines
🔹 THE DOCTOR WHO’S NEEDED PATIENCE
🔹 I’M BACKING THE TWO WILLIAMS ACES
🔹 ALL SMILES FOR BALDING’S JUVENILES
🔹 KEEP BUSY IS ON TARGET TO FLY HIGH
THE DOCTOR WHO’S NEEDED PATIENCE
Chester does the splits. The first behind-closed-doors meetings on the Roodeye are divided between today and Friday but gone for good in 2020 are the crowd-pulling Chester Cup and the Classic tests there which you ignore at your punting peril.
The Chester Vase, which launched Troy and Shergar, and the Cheshire Oaks, which produced Enable, have both been lost this year.
I recognise among the raceheads only the Queensferry Stakes (6.30 tonight), with past results a reminder of the infamous draw, which appears to show a strong bias.
Without his beloved Chester, owner Dr Marwan Koukash has had to make do with a mere £96,000 pocket-money from 10 winners elsewhere this year.
But, with a sigh of relief after weeks of waiting, he is straight back on the Roodeye with a runner in the opener today, Tommy And Andy, one of 14 for him in the eight races, 11 of them trained by Richard Fahey.
Fahey was leading trainer at Chester last season with 15 winners and, though Ian Balding, Mark Johnston and, particularly Ralph Beckett, had better strike rates, Fahey was the punter’s pal with +32.00 profit.
I’M BACKING THE TWO WILLIAMS ACES
⭕ 5.30 Chester Ian Williams is not in much form right now (1-32) but has won this 7f-plus race twice in seven years, and has booked the ‘forgotten man’, Ben Curtis.
Curtis has had 121 winners this year, largely built up from the winter AW before the lockdown but he had one at Windsor yesterday, his seventh in August.
That’s two solid reputations – trainer and jockey – put on the line at Chester this evening by a horse called Reputation!
The seven-year-old has won first or second time back in the last two seasons, stepping up from success in class 4 to scoring in class 2, and now dropped 12lb below his subsequent rating.
Five of the last eight winners have come from stalls 1 to 4, which takes us to Asdaa, Gallipoli, Spirit Warning and Aces. I would normally add the five gate into my draw focus, but True Blue Moon is a slow starter, which would normally rule him out on a track like this one.
Aces (Martin Dwyer) is also trained Ian Williams, won over the CD here last June but is 7lb lower, and has had a recent run back. I took 17.0 Reputation and 14.5 Aces.
ALL SMILES FOR BALDING’S JUVENILES
⭕ 6.00 Chester Tom Dascombe, who trains just half an hour down the road, is another trainer seemingly out of form (1-29) but who usually goes up a gear at Chester.
Dascombe has seven runners at Chester today, among them in this 6f conditions race his recent Redcar scorer Fools Rush In.
Richard Kingscote, who won on Regal Reality for me yesterday, did well to score with Fools Rush In while his stable was under a cloud.
But Fools we may be if we back him, since he has only 3lb to make up a stone in the ratings on Zamaani, who beat Friday winner Perotto in a class 2 at Goodwood, and goes for a hat-trick today.
Tom’s Reign Beau has even more to make up but was never headed over the stiff Beverley 5f and could come on for the extra furlong.
Mystery Smiles, a BETDAQ 3.0 offer this morning, and the only one backed against a shade of odds on about Zamaani, is likely to go on from his Windsor win.
He is related on the dam’s side to the aptly-named Ruby Rocket, and – scoring eleven 2yo turf winners – Andrew Balding is striking at 24% with his juveniles.
KEEP BUSY IS ON TARGET TO FLY HIGH
⭕ 6.30 Chester (Queensferry Stakes) The last four winners of this have come from stalls 2, 3, 4 and Richard Fahey has trained three of the last five to score.
Fahey saddles Growl (from 4) and Gabrial The Wire (5) for Dr Koukash, both huge outsiders in the BETDAQ orange this morning at 32.0 and 46.0.
Growl hasn’t been in pattern company for nearly three years, has never done well without several runs back, and is high in the handicap.
Gabrial The Wire’s Chester form without ‘soft’ in the going description (from 5f to 7f) is 22144101, but he, too, is high in the handicap.
We don’t yet know what to make of Dark Pursuit, who has changed stables, coming over from Italy since winning five races in Qatar.
Keep Busy (from the 3 stall) has won on all types of ground, running up to Art Power (Group 3 winner at Naas since) and reckoned a 101, though only three.
That doesn’t give him a great deal to find with Judicial, who has a stone more off 110 and is eight years old now.
Not much between last year’s winner Major Jumbo and Judicial at these weights. Jumbo made all last year from stall 3, but is further out this time in 6.
Emeraaty Ana, Gimcrack winner nearly two years back, mistakenly went for the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas in his year, and was dropped to a 6f Conditions race to get back into the winner’s enclosure. Hard to know what to expect.
Win and place Keep Busy at BETDAQ 7.4 this morning could be the answer. They think enough of him to make an entry in the Group 1 Flying Five at the Curragh in September.
DAQMAN’S BETS
5.30 Chester (win 50)
BULL’S-EYE BET: 3.75pts win ACES
BULL’S-EYE BET: 3pts win REPUTATION
6.00 Chester (win 20 nap)
BET 10pts win MYSTERY SMILES
6.30 Chester (win 20, win 10 place)
BET 3.25pts win and 4.75pts place KEEP BUSY
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