‘SECOND’ COMES FIRST AND JOINS THE GRAND NATIONAL PARTY: It’s all about the Irish today as Ted Walsh’s Sunday Naas winner, Any Second Now, joins four others Irish owned or trained at the front of the BETDAQ Sportsbook market for the Aintree Grand National, and a raider at Wolverhampton, ‘thrown in’ according to Daqman, is an Irish horse bidding for an English AW hat-trick.
MONDAY WHITE-OUT: Plenty of snow around to start the week but Monday’s turf action had already been called off at Fairyhouse, Plumpton and Carlisle.
NATIONAL TOP FIVE ARE IRISH
Front five on the National grid. And all with the Irish connection! This is the BETDAQ Sportsbook market after Any Second Now won a 2m chase at Naas for Ted Walsh yesterday. It was not just any 2m chase.
Walsh ran Papillon to warm up in the same race at the February meeting, fourth in the year 2000 before he went on to win the Grand National.
Then he ran Seabass to win the same Naas contest in 2012. The Daqman column was on at BETDAQ 60.0 for Aintree, where he finished third at 8-1 joint favourite under Ted’s daughter, Katie Walsh.
Any Second Now looked the least likely to win over 2m. He hadn’t raced below around two and a half miles for two years, and had won the 2019 Kim Muir at Cheltenham (3m 2f).
But he travelled and jumped well throughout, finding plenty up the hill, ticking all the boxes for Ted.
06.0 Tiger Roll (Gigginstown House, Gordon Elliott): National winner back to back
13.0 Any Second Now (JP McManus, Ted Walsh): won 2019 Kim Muir, Cheltenham
13.0 Burrows Saint (Mrs S Ricci, Willie Mullins): won Irish Grand National
15.0 Kimberlite Candy (JP McManus; Tom Lacey, Hereford): won Warwick Classic, 2nd Bechers
15.0 Magic Of Light (Alan Potts, Jessica Harrington): second last year
⚠️ HEADS UP We should be able to resume plans to bring you advance notice of the staking plan for meetings, once the waterlogging has cleared (see below). The stake is bronze to win 10 points for low level, silver to win 20 for class 2 and 3, and gold for staking to win 30, even 50, at the better meetings, potentially Newbury this weekend.
Next week there’s the Imperial Cup meeting at Sandown, then Cheltenham when all will be going for gold!
HOPES REST WITH CATTERICK
⚠️ HEADS UP Turf action looks a few days away.
Monday’s jumps cards at Fairyhouse, Plumpton and Carlisle were called off due to waterlogging and Leicester is already off tomorrow.
Catterick also plan to race tomorrow but the problem is now snow in North Yorkshire with a 2cm covering this morning. An inspection looks likely but the timing has yet to be confirmed by the track.
Looking ahead to Wednesday and there are no inspections planned (yet) for Market Rasen, Musselburgh and Wincanton.
LOOKING TO MAKE BIG IMPACT
2.35 Southwell Sounding like a worn out record but it’s a tune that needs constant repeating when it comes to Southwell…. “course experience” !!
Big Impact made a pleasing Southwell debut over this trip earlier this month when chasing home Lion Tower. The winner looks well above average (now two from two on the course) and Big Impact put some decent distance between himself and the rest of the field.
Looking down this field he would be unlucky to bump into one of that ability again on the evidence we’ve seen so far.
Capla Spirit also ran well on his first start here when beaten a head over five furlongs – he was only headed near the line but the step up in trip is a concern for me as it didn’t look an obvious next move having watched that race again.
A bigger danger might come from Anna Maria who runs in the Cheveley Park colours. She hasn’t run here but has shown some promise at Wolverhampton and Newcastle and is a big potential improver.
PARK ANY THOUGHTS ON ACCESSOR
3.05 Southwell Whilst it’s no surprise to see Michael Wigham get Accessor out again quickly after this course and distance win last week but as ever prices dictate and he looks vulnerable at a shade of odds-on under a penalty.
He didn’t score with that much in hand and he has a serious rival here in Adams Park who stayed on really well over 1m f4 here on Thursday so should be well suited by the step up in trip based on that effort.
Adams Park has yet to win for the stable but his first run at Southwell was an eye catcher and the alignment of surface with today’s trip looks key.
Cool Possibility is hard to assess. He comes here on the back of a 16/1 win in a ‘jumpers bumper’ at Newcastle on Friday and Rebecca Menzies is trying to strike whilst the iron is hot.
This is his first start on the flat for the stable and also his first visit to Southwell. He’s clearly in good heart but the trip, even at 1m 6f, might be on the short side.
DARREN THROWN IN FOR TREBLE
7.30 Wolverhampton Is it going to the well too often for Gavin Cromwell’s Irish raider, Dazzling Darren, in this Ladbrokes-sponsored 1m 4f handicap?
Probably not, as Darren, who has won at Chelmsford and Lingfield back to back for BETDAQ ambassador Cromwell, is carrying between 14lb and 23lb less in terms of weight carried.
And, though he’s shot up to a mark of 60, has been let off here with 53 under the conditions of the race and, climbing a grade from class 6 to class 5, he’s receiving weight from all those in the field, except Depardieu.
Four of the five other rivals are giving away at least a stone. Mr Shady (9st 7lb to Dazzing Darren’s 8st 4lb), has won only in the same class 6 and has to step up another quarter of a mile.
The rest are all maidens! Striking Approach has already been beaten here at Wolverhampton at today’s level. Ditto Beggarman and Cottonopolis.
Fellow Irishman Adamaris has been runner-up in big fields at Dundalk and here at Wolverhampton but at even shorter trips.
They are all three-year-olds and the only reasons for a Dazzling Darren defeat today would be that three races in 18 days is too much, or that one of the others has improved past him.
With all the weight they are giving away – particularly maidens to a dual winner! – the improvement would have to be quite phenomenal.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 10 points each)
BET 5.5pts win BIG IMPACT (2.35 Southwell)
BET 2.9pts win ADAMS PARK (3.05 Southwell)
BET 7.7pts win (nap) DAZZLING DARREN (7.30 Wolverhampton)
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
