COOKIES IN COLOSSAL WEEKEND AND MORE TO COME: Fortune Cookies is the most talked about feature in tipping. If Daqman puts them in the list, they win. If Daqman takes them out of the list, they still win! From an 8-1 hit on Saturday that piled up profits to 655 points to the 25-1 shot that scored yesterday when the trainer thought it might be last. Seven more hot Cookies for this week are listed below.
ROUND THE TRACKS: DAQMAN has bets at all three venues on Monday but saves his best bet of the day for Lingfield.
25-1 COOKIE THAT ROLLED AWAY
Would you believe it! Fortune Cookies, which took its profit to 655 points on Saturday, could have shot through the roof to 1,155 points, had we held on to yesterday’s 25-1 winner Tiger Roll, taken out after his lifeless start to the campaign.
Everything had been negative including the stats about how past Grand National winners always fade away these days, and the sight of a four-and-a-half mile chaser zipping past hurdlers over two miles shorter yesterday was almost unprecedented.
I say ‘almost’ because some anorak somewhere is sure to ‘remember’ something similar but, apart from Red Rum’s rare ability to win over 7f on the Flat at Liverpool and then win three Grand Nationals there years later, there is nothing like it in my old notebooks.
Yes, hurdles races have been used as Aintree preps but yesterday was the Grade-2 Boyne Hurdle. And he won it!
The inquest on why Tiger Roll beat some improvers up to Grade-1 standard will probably offer in evidence as Exhibit A the fact that all the Navan races yesterday were run between 20 and 42 seconds slow.
Whatever, Tiger Roll was no slouch when ‘still only 75% fit’ (quote unquote trainer Gordon Elliott), and we’ll now expect to read, and read again, all about Tiger’s big chance of doing the National double for the first time since Red Rum himself 45 years ago. At least this column ‘found’ Tiger and tipped him last year.
Last word to trainer Elliott: ‘ We thought he’d finish last or second last today! It’s an eye-catching surprise and we’ve got to think about the National again now after Cheltenham.’
BREATH EASY FOR MORE BIG RACES
Don’t worry about the winners you miss; it’s the winners you back that count!
Fortune Cookies, which helped this column land three feature events out of three on Saturday, have a quartet of big-race dates this week: in the Quevega Hurdle, Eider Chase, Bobbyjo Chase, and Winter Derby.
ANGELS BREATH (choice of 2.50 Huntingdon, Thursday; 1.10 Warwick, Friday; and 3.10 Exeter, Friday)
BOYHOOD (2.05 Exeter, Friday)
FIDUX (4.15 Taunton, tomorrow)
LAURINA (Quevega Hurdle, Punchestown, Wednesday)
MISSED APPROACH (Eider Chase, Newcastle, Saturday)
PRESENTING PERCY (Bobbyjo Chase, Fairyhouse, Saturday)
Also: ANIBALE FLY, AUVERGNAT, CHAMP, CLAN DES OBEAUX, CYRNAME, ELEGANT ESCAPE, ELDORADO ALLEN, FRODON, HONEYSUCKLE, INVITATION ONLY, LALOR, LE PREZIEN, LE RICHEBOURG, LOSTINTRANSLATION, MIDNIGHT SHADOW, NATIVE RIVER, PAISLEY PARK, PALMERS HILL, ROBINSFIRTH, ROCK THE KASBAH, SHARJAH, SIR EREC, THE WORLD’S END, UP FOR REVIEW, VERDANA BLUE, WARRIORS TALE, WINTER ESCAPE
Profit-and-loss (all horses to follow so far, including plus and minus prior to deletions from previous lists) to 20-point level stakes: +654.76
AW THEMAXWECAN, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, NEW KING.
WISSAHICKON (Winter Derby, Lingfield, Saturday)
ARKYN FOR C&D FOLLOW UP
1.45 Lingfield Testing ground at Lingfield (as always it seems over the jumps) but that doesn’t apply to the opening bumper which is run on the all-weather.
Alan King’s Arkyn positively relished the surface last time out with a seven length course and distance win. He is penalised for that win but only had to be shaken up and could easily improve further.
It doesn’t look a particularly strong contest with the obvious exception of the Ian Williams trained Pour Joie who made a winning debut at Warwick in January. Despite the race being over a month ago – none of the six runners have reappeared since, so it’s quite difficult to get a handle on what that form amounted to. A bigger issue for me though is that Pour Joie has no experience of the artificial surface and is up against a rival who has proven form and appetite for it.
The only other runner of interest is Ehmaj – bred in Japan and trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam. This one didn’t seem to be given the hardest of introductions when fourth at Huntingdon and is entitled to improve but there are several question marks over him being up in trip, all-weather for the first time and his first start since being gelded.
2.00 Carlisle The presence of Richard Johnson onboard Vis A Vis is enough to convince me to take a chance.
The five-year-old was different class to these on the flat and is taken to make a winning start over hurdles.
He ended his flat campaign with a fourth in the Cesarewitch, so we should have no worries on the stamina front over a testing 2m 3f at Carlisle.
Hill Sixteen keeps finding one too good and was soundly beaten at Sedgefield last time out and is readily opposable.
5.00 Newcastle A terrifically competitive opener but Nevada went into my notebook after his course second last time out. He was only headed in the closing stages but finished well clear of the third and looks a solid win and place option here.
Camile, formerly trained by Joseph O’Brien, made a good start for her new stable at Ayr when winning over hurdles and looks the danger. At the prices I can back both for a WIN 20 return in this open betting heat.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 points, except place bet win 10):
BET 12.3pts win ARKYN (1.45 Lingfield)
BET 10.6pts win VIS A VIS (2.00 Carlisle)
BET 4.1pts win and 5.8pts place (WIN 10) NEVADA (5.00 Newcastle)
BET 4.6pts win CAMILE (5.00 Newcastle)
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