12-1 HIT: DAQMAN DOES IT AGAIN: After 14-1 Rons Dream on Saturday, Daqman completed another massive weekend with a 50-point bull’s-eye return from Old Guard (WON 12-1 from 16.5 on BETDAQ) in the Greatwood Hurdle on the final day of the Cheltenham Open Meeting.
WIN Old Guard (WON 12-1 <16.5)
WIN Rons Dream (WON 14-1 <19.0)
10 WINNING LAYS ON THE TROT: The Greatwood was a double-whammy (winning twice in one race) as he landed a place lay on the joint favourite, Mick Jazz, who tailed off and pulled up. That’s 10 consecutive winning lays, seven of them favourite, three of them daring place lays:
WIN Bathos (unplaced 4-1)
WIN Grendisar (4th 9-4 favourite)
WIN Zebstar, place lay (unplaced 12-1)
WIN Cameraman (2nd 9-4 favourite)
WIN Gleneagles (unplaced 9-4)
WIN Wild Storm (unplaced 5-2 favourite)
WIN Fame Game (unplaced 4-1 favourite)
WIN Alfie Spinner (unplaced 14-1)
WIN Kings Palace, place lay (unplaced 13-2 favourite)
WIN Mick Jazz, place lay (pulled up, 6-1 jt favourite)
A 7-1 DRUBBING FOR PRICEWISE: The Greatwood result gave Daqman a 7-1 win at the three-day meeting over his arch-rival, Pricewise of the Racing Post, to take the overall score to 253-97 in Daqman’s favour.
AND IT’S FIVE NAPS UP WITH A 2-1 SCORER: On his third consecutive winning day at Cheltenham, Daqman also landed his fifth winning nap out of eight with Altior (WON 2-1) for a profit since the end of the Flat of 62.26 to 20-point level-stakes. Bull’s-eye bets are 210 points up, to 20 points level stakes.
Naps form: 11321101
Bankers: 211
Lays: 1111111111
Bull’s-eye bets: 000210
16.5 ANTE-POST BET IN WAKE OF FESTIVAL CLUES
Notes from a small island. I’m sitting in my den, overwhelmed by form-books and RSI, wondering what you thought of a fascinating Open meeting at Cheltenham and the trials elsewhere.
Here are my comments as I noted them down, watching three days racing from England and Ireland on the box.
AS DE MEE Looks like a long-term bridesmaid, with his jaw cocked and head high. Why ever did I pick him? Remind me to put a standing-order lay on him.
FOX NORTON Great effort, giving a year and 4lb to Garde La Victoire in the Arkle trial after having to set the pace. A great weekend for his trainer, Neil Mulholland, following on a good run from Minella Present and the scintillating performance by Shantou Village.
JOSIES ORDERS Enda Bolger has yet another young star for the banks. At least I said that BEFORE the race!
KNOCKANRAWLEY Kim Bailey stressed in advance of this one’s third in the Murphy that the race was a prep run. Tongue in cheek?
It was certainly some prep! Made much of the running and looked as tough as a rhino, setting himself up for the Welsh Grand National.
MICK JAZZ Candy from a kid.
MORE OF THAT Took very well to fences, but just a reminder that he beat the head-held-high As Du Mee and Dell’Arca for David Pipe, whose horses are not getting home (as in Kings Palace, Un Temps Pour Tout).
NICHOLS CANYON The Punchestown Champion Novice was a revelation against Faugheen, but another revelation was Faugheen’s hanging, not wanting the fight to the line. A physical problem? Or is Nichols Canyon just too good?
RONS DREAM The great Twiston-Davies double act for staying chasers and hurdlers seems to have given way to Sean and Peter Bowen.
SHANTOU VILLAGE No fluke at all.
SPRINTER SACRE Yes, he’s back but unlikely to regain the Champion Chase title he won in 2013. Some young pretender will come along, maybe Vibrato Valtat, who is his nearest market rival for the Tingle Creek.
By the time of the Cheltenham Festival, Vibrato Valtat, a year younger than his Arkle conqueror, Un De Sceaux, should be a fully-armed combatant mentally and physically.
Vibrato’s Cheltenham odds will shrink after he’s finished first or second in the Tingle Creek, so I would take his 16.5 with BETDAQ for the Champion Chase. He’s 12-1 with Hills and Ladbrokes.
ANNACOTTY What’s this doing out of alphabetical order? Well, I had the 12-1 winner staked in my bets box on Saturday, then rubbed it out for Sound Investment, the 20-1 third. No after-timing, Daqman; and don’t be greedy!
That’s not the point. Annacotty will be a bogey horse for me for the rest of the season. If I back him, the horse will lose; if I don’t, he wins again. Don’t say ‘that’s racing!’ Whether I give it a full stop or an exclamation mark, that’s a right pain in the colon.
MERCUREY TO RISE TO THE OCCASION IN HOT RACE
1.30 Plumpton Not Paul Nicholls’ favourite venue, much more Alan King’s (62% chase strike-rate), so this makes for an interesting clash of top yards, with Nicholls running his personal-favourite ‘dark horse’ at Ditcheat.
He allowed ex-French Le Mercurey plenty of time to acclimatise but says he has him jumping well and ready to take on Inner Drive for Alan King, who has won this twice before, including with subsequent Ryanair winner Uxizandre.
‘Follow the market’ is often good advice on BETDAQ, or a good excuse for a tipster who wants to sit on the fence! In this case, it’s probably the best tip of the meeting, since no fewer than nine consecutive favourites have won this race!
Yesterday we followed the money when the morning favourites flip-flopped at Cheltenham: Altior took over from Maputo and collared him on the run-in.
In this one, Le Mercurey this morning usurped the front-of-the-market slot from paper-favourite Inner Drive.
2.00 Plumpton Here’s that man Neil Mulholland again, hoping for a hat-trick with Ashcott Boy. Ashcott is a village on the Somerset levels but this Boy seemingly doesn’t want a peat bog: both hurdles wins and both over fences have been won on good ground.
Sonny The One was the moral at Wincanton, beaten a length giving weight to the winner. Can he repeat that run second time back after a long lay-off?
I fancy Mr Muddle (a tasty 9.0), whose trainer, Sheena West, arrives at the course on a hat-trick after winners here at Plumpton and at Lingfield. Mr Muddle’s form figures at ‘Plumptious’ are 22141021.
PLAYING JOHNSON AGAINST THE FIELD
1.45 Leicester The sound surface should suit Playing The Field (Richard Johnson) and his return last month ought to have set him up to resume his winning ways this afternoon.
You can never be sure with horses that have had a long lay-off, and there seems to be a big danger in Bus Named Desire (turn in your grave, Tennessee Williams), who jumped well and went close on her chasing debut.
At age 12, Double Chocolate is unlikely to put back-to-back wins together, but Etania was a long way behind him at Uttoxeter.
2.15 Leicester This class-3 adds a bit of jam to the bread-and-butter racing of the day. We can eat it off form Mica!
Hat-trick winner on the Flat in the Spring, Mica Mika retains a 111 hurdles rating from success at Wetherby nearly four years ago, in December 2011, and returns to the ‘sticks’ discipline with form figures of 12 from two starts.
Best known on the Flat, trainer Richard Fahey’s last hurdles runner was a winner at Musselburgh on Bonfire Night. Mica is 3.75 on BETDAQ, as I write.
His biggest threat may be Whispering Harry but this looks like a prep run for a staying chaser, whose last hurdles win was in February 2014 on heavy, though in his favour is the superb form of the Henry Oliver string (current figures 21123311)
Watt Broderick is badly handicapped, and I’m not touching a Pipe horse (Bladoun) while they’re failing to finish their races, so the danger is probably Moidore, who will appreciate the ground: 9.2 offers.
DAQMAN BETS (staked 1 to 9, except the ante-post bet).
BET 8pts win (nap) LE MERCUREY (1.30 Plumpton)
BET 5pts win PLAYING THE FIELD (1.45 Leicester)
BET 3pts win and place MR MUDDLE (2.00 Plumpton)
BET 6pts win MICA MIKA and 2pts win MOIDORE (2.15 Leicester)
ANTE-POST (bull’s-eye bet to win 50): 3.2pts win VIBRATO VALTAT (Champion Chase, Cheltenham, March)
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