DAQMAN LANDS DOUBLE WHAMMY OF 4-1 WINNER AND 1-5 LOSER: Daqman wouldn’t give the hot favourite a second glance at Sedgefield yesterday. He made out a case for laying Strong Glance and backing Baron de Midleton. Result: the Baron at 4-1 beat 5-1 ON Strong Glance.. by 32 lengths! It was a Hughes-Johnson one-two, with Brian Hughes restoring his lead in the jockeys’ table to 18.
HEADS UP FOR YOUR CHELTENHAM STATS AND HORSES TO FOLLOW: Starting tomorrow, Daqman’s facts and stats on Cheltenham will appear daily in sequence with the Tuesday-Friday cards at the festival next week; so it’s Champion Hurdle day tomorrow, one week in advance. Meanwhile, today, Daqman checks out the odds and offers about his horses-to-follow Fortune Cookies at the big meeting.
10 FESTIVAL FORTUNE COOKIES
⚠️ HEADS UP: It’s decision time in the next few days for owners and trainers to pick the prize they want to target at the Cheltenham Festival. Six out of 10 of Daqman’s Fortune Cookies have more than one engagement.
⚠️ HEADS UP: Check out each horse in the BETDAQ Sportsbook and on the BETDAQ Exchange (see left of the horse’s name) Betting bulletins on the 10 will appear when there is news of acceptors for each race.
⚠️ HEADS UP: Watch out, too, for bulletins about the weather and what going the horses can expect at Cheltenham. For the Festival Ten here, ground conditions are listed for their winning form (GB and Ireland form only).
🏇 BATTLEOVERDOYEN (Gordon Elliott) won soft (2), yielding (1), good (4).
23.0 NH Chase, Tuesday
21.0 RSA, Wednesday
21.0 Golden Miller, Thursday
🏇 DELTA WORK (Gordon Elliott) won soft (2), yielding (3), good (3)
6.4 Gold Cup, Friday
🏇 EASYWORK (Gordon Elliott) won heavy (2), soft (1)
17.0 Coral Cup, Tuesday
26.0 Ballymore, Tuesday
26.0 Albert Bartlett, Friday
🏇 HARRY SENIOR (Colin Tizzard) heavy (1), soft (1)
21.0 Ballymore, Tuesday
17.0 Coral Cup, Tuesday
11.0 Albert Bartlett, Friday
🏇 ENVOI ALLEN (Gordon Elliott) soft (2), yielding (5)
9.0 Supreme Novices Hurdle, Tuesday
6.0 Champion Hurdle, Tuesday
2.5 Ballymore, Tuesday
🏇 EPATANTE (Nicky Henderson) heavy (2), soft (1), good (3)
4.3 Champion Hurdle, Tuesday
🏇 FLORESSA (Nicky Henderson) good to soft (3)
7.0 Mares Novices Hurdle, Thursday
🏇 HONEYSUCKLE (Henry De Bromhead) heavy (2), yielding (3), soft (1), good (2)
5.5 Champion Hurdle, Tuesday
2.5 Mares Hurdle, Tuesday
🏇 NOTEBOOK (Henry De Bromhead) soft (2), yielding (3), good (1)
3.75 Arkle Trophy, Tuesday
🏇 THYME HILL (Philip Hobbs) soft (2), good (2)
11.0 Ballymore Novices Hurdle, Wednesday
5.5 Albert Bartlett, Friday
🏇 WALK IN THE MILL (Robert Walford) 17.0 Grand National, is also a Fortune Cookie
SCARDURA IF RATINGS ARE RIGHT
1.45 Leopardstown After a good effort in a strong maiden hurdle at the Galway Festival, Scardura won 16 lengths on his English debut, after moving to Neil Mulholland near Bath.
The runner-up took his next two starts and the third scored two runs later when he got the soft ground he needed.
Scardura didn’t perform at Cheltenham in a Supreme Novices’ Trial and wears a tongue-tie today, as if soft ground up the Prestbury hill had him gasping, as it does many a lesser light.
The two hours each way on the M9 could be worth it for Waterford-based Arcadian Sunrise, who bumped into the Punchestown-Festival-targeted Saint Roi of Willie Mullins on the first day of the year.
After that he got the better of Whatsnotoknow at Thurles before that one beat a big field on the same course, 18 lengths clear of the third horse to finish.
The one they went for this morning was the maiden Barnaviddaun, who is 13lb better off for a threeparts-of-a-length beating by Funky Dady at Fairyhouse just nine days back.
But, if you’re talking about the weights, and the corresponding ratings are right, then Scardura (130 in England but with an Irish background) is 8lb in front of Arcadian Sunrise and 12lb ahead of Funky Dady.
Strictly on form, Barnaviddaun is Scardura’s equal but, after almost three years, Barnaviddaun is an exposed maiden with a question-mark against his attitude.
I took 4.0 Scardura but didn’t step up my stakes from bronze to silver until later on at Wetherby and Wolverhampton, where I had more confidence in the outcomes.
FLEGMATIK FLIES AT WETHERBY
4.15 Wetherby Philip Hobbs has a 34% strike rate at Wetherby and David Maxwell a 60% riding record, but a tricky one for your algorithms to computerise the recent form ‘figures’ for their runner, Zizaneur. They are: UPUU.
The handicapper couldn’t whack Main Fact for winning at Uttoxeter because it was a conditionals race but he lumped 12lb on the ratings when the seven-year-old followed up at ffos Las.
Flegmatik has had a win and a second at Wetherby in his four races over here, and then was aimed high at the big Newbury handicap early last month. Well there until the last.
Gennady’s Newcastle win at the turn of the year has been demoted four times: the runner-up was beaten a total of 67 lengths in his next three starts, and the third was subsequently 28-lengths seventh of nine.
McGowan’s Pass did well in january but his win and second omn Scottish tracks only served to put him back to 125, where he was two years ago.
Khage has failed to step up from novice races. Secrete Stream scores once every two years or so and he had his win on the last day.
Baraculu has changed trainers more times (five) than he’s won races (three), and it’s Flegmatik for me at a tasty 4.2 on BETDAQ.
HARBOUR CAN LIGHT UP THE SKY
6.15 Wolverhampton It took Mark Johnston a while to step up the dual 10-furlong winner, Sky Defender, to 1m 4f, but the last day he made the Farhh colt rise in both trip and grade.
Sky Defender repaid the confidence, despite being 11lb higher after a win and second in January, finishing strongly.
Behind him that day in fourth, Deal A Dollar, is 5lb better off for almost three lengths but he’s not one to put much faith in. He’s dwelt twice in his last three starts.
Original Choice has won here over a mile but his sole success over further was on firm ground at Lingfield (turf) in a slow-run three-horse race.
Cosmeapolitan also won at Lingfield (1m 4f AW) but had lost five races before that and has lost seven since. Kodiac Harbour’s team of Robyn Brisland and Luke Morris has a 50% strike rate at Wolver.
Kodiac Harbour is trying a new trip and a change of stables; his winning form is at a mile but he’s a big, galloping sort who gets 12lb from the favourite and it could pay to follow the old adage: bet top and bottom of the handicap; in this case at 2.35 and 10.5.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.45 Leopardstown (win 10)
BET 3pts win SCARDURA
4.15 Wetherby (win 20)
BET 6.25pts win (nap) FLEGMATIK
6.15 Wolverhampton (win 20, win 10)
BET 2pts win KODIAC HARBOUR
BET 7.5pts win SKY DEFENDER
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