DAQMAN FINDS 9.8 ‘DIAMOND’ HIDDEN IN THE MARATHON: He’s unexposed at the trip but his stable has won the race twice with three runners, one of them a maiden. Daqman smells a plot at 9.8 in today’s Devon Marathon and raises his stakes to jackpot level.
36.0 ‘MINACK’ GAMBLE: HE’S 10-1 WITH BOOKIES: If you didn’t get the 36.0 early doors, recommended by Daqman, there was still 19.0 on Betdaq, as the Welsh National gamble on The Minack developed yesterday. And there was some 21.0 to small stakes this morning before, generally, 14.5 and 13.0 was available, compared with 10-1 quoted by leading bookmakers.
‘KAUTO’ NOT COMMITTED YET: Meanwhile Daqman’s ante-post King George warning about Kauto Star was franked by fears voiced by connections: ‘We don’t want to say yes now, and have him run flat.’
1.30 Exeter (Devon Marathon) In eight years out of 10, you’ve needed quality (10st 11lb or higher) and, in the last six years, a comparatively young horse (no double-figure age), to win a Devon Marathon.
The favourite has failed to score in the decade, despite success for the top yards, and Power Pack Jack is up a mile in trip, and a total of 17lb, on autumn success in poor time on the gaffe tracks.
In his favour is that he’s with Team Twiston-Davies, which is so good at developing stayers but I think he’ll need more time in this company.
Shaking Hands strung them all out at Warwick but was well adrift of Drybrook Bedouin put to 3m 6f on today’s course in the Spring.
Diamond Brook’s three wins have all come at Exeter but he’s never won beyond 20f or raced over further than 3m.
Incentivise had a good record when raced beyond 28f last season, placed in all three, and actually a pound lower than for his third to West End Rocker in a Warwick race which sent ‘Rocker’ into the top rank of the Grand National market at the time.
Quazy De Joie (holds Or Sing About) is emerging from the novice ranks, and has Tony McCoy and blinkers first time to help him concentrate.
Incentivise is best, though his form on a right-hand track is poor, so I shall take an additional chance with Diamond Brook (9.8 on the Daq as I write), with Nick Williams two out of three in this race, suggesting that he knows what he’s doing.
Neither of the Williams winners had raced beyond 27f before and one of them, The Risky Viking, was a maiden over jumps. That didn’t prevent a gamble down to 4-1. Trainer’s target race or what!
1.55 Sandown I’m not one for hyped horses but, since I’m responsible for some of it (!), I shall stick with the unbeaten Fingal Bay.
He’s been challenged today by Henry De Bromhead with his hat-trick scorer Sizing Symphony, partly because he is unlikely to get the ground in Ireland for the rest of the winter, partly to lay it down to the home team, which includes Simonsig, also unbeaten when he’s completed the course.
It’s Fingal Bay’s stiffest test yet but all the main contenders have a penalty, and the benefit of a strong-looking field is that we’re unlikely to have to bet odds on.
2.30 Sandown (Future Stars Chase) Unless Quinz can bounce back, this would be straightforward for Bostons Angel, if it wasn’t for the confidence behind Royal Charm to respond to this rise in trip.
Strange to see him here on a big day at Exeter – he’s won four times there – but Paul Nicholls needs to find out about his stamina now that he’s proved 10 and 23 lengths inferior to Graded stars Wishfull Thinking and Medermit over shorter.
Incidentally, Quinz and Royal Charm have excellent records right-handed – four wins apiece – but share only the one win between them from 10 starts the other way round.
Paul Nicholls insists that Royal Charm has never been really right and that he’s been crying out for 3m. Though the dam is from a 2m family, Paul will know all about the stamina dose from the sire, who got a certain Big Buck’s.
DAQMAN’S BETS
LAY to win 10pts POWER PACK JACK, and WIN-30 JACKPOT: BET 5.3pts win INCENTIVISE ands 3.4pts win DIAMOND BROOK (1.30 Exeter)
BET 15pts win (nap) FINGAL BAY (1.55 Sandown)
BET 11.8pts win BOSTONS ANGEL (2.30 Sandown)
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