MORE BIG-OFFER BETDAQ BEAUTIES: Undeterred by his many near misses at huge prices (check out his week-long heartbreak run in the archives), Daqman remains on the attack, taking up morning offers of 19.5, 14.0 and 11.5 at Fakenham.
It’s the Ditcheat dilemma. Paul Nicholls is talking up the chance of Brampour in Saturday’s feature hurdle, The Ladbroke, at Ascot. But he knows that, without Brampour on the card, his big hopes among the lightweights will lose their edge.
The handicap picks are the Nicholls’ pair Empire Levant and Prospect Wells and the Don McCain trained Desert Cry, all three perfectly pitched between 10st 7lb and 10st 10lb.
Empire Levant and Desert Cry are part-owned respectively by Premier League managers Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes.
Everton v Man U could help decide the championship when they meet at Old Trafford for their scheduled return match on April 21. The champions managed only a 1-0 win over the Toffees at Goodison Park in October.
But the equine meeting of these two managers at Ascot could decide The Ladbroke, if they are allowed to run off their existing sub-11st marks.
The race hinges on whether Paul Nicholls leaves in top weight Brampour, who may yet go for a handicap hat-trick in this, but it was only on Saturday that he took on Grandouet and Co in the International at Cheltenham, finishing third, beaten only about four lengths.
There are two ways to look at it: if Brampour goes up in the ratings again as a result of the International, he sets himself an awesome task in future handicaps, so may as well get in under the radar and have a tilt at The Ladbroke, always supposing he has come out of Saturday OK.
The ace in the Ditcheat hand is Nicholls’ 17-year-old nephew, Harry Derham, claiming his 7lb., and so returning Brampour to a reasonable weight.
If he doesn’t go to Ascot, it’s an ill wind for Empire Levant and Prospect Wells, who will be lifted into the top half of the handicap.
Fakenham has two comparatively classy handicaps as far as weekday racing goes: a class-3 chase and a class-4 hurdle.
Two of the front five in the chase market (2.00), Frontier Spirit and Harouet, have records which show they do much better when fresh; both won on their reappearance and could well bounce.
Knight Legend, a stone higher than he was in the summer, is 13 in three weeks’ time and his hat-trick chance today depends on him maintaining his form and on Mark Marris’s ability to use his 10lb claim.
Investment Affair is up 23lb since October and steps up in grade for the second time but both wins inside a month were at Fakenham, he still has his ground and he dismissed the favourite 17 lengths last time.
But I looked for prices about the two travellers, both scopey six-year-olds, Cottage Flyer and Yorkshire-trained The Magic Bishop, who might also have made it an autumn two out of two but blundered when making his move at Carlisle: 11.5 offers, as I write.
But the enormous odds are the 19.5 about Irish-raider Cottage Flyer, who won his first two races this year, including a make-all, jumping well, over 3m-plus on today’s course. Can lay it down to them when fresh as he is today.
Another front-runner, Tribal Dance (2.30), will be hard to peg back. I see top and bottom weights as the gelding’s biggest dangers.
Que Beauty (14.0) showed plenty of stamina on the Flat and has run in better races than this. Abnaki has run well at this kind of trip, and returns to it today.
Jimbill (1.00) looks a banker in the opener on the following grounds: the second favourite, Showmanship, needs hood and visor and hasn’t jumped a twig in public.
The obvious worry, McCoy on Hogan’s Bridge, has gone out to the betting weir, a lonely dog on a raft at 23.0, as I write, which suggests that stable vibes are muted. Five others are on 25.0 to 192.0. A whole host of rafts!
DAQMAN’S BETS
BANKER: BET 20pts win (nap at maximum stakes) JIMBILL (1.00 Fakenham)
BET (to win 20pts) 1.9pts win THE MAGIC BISHOP and 1pt win and place COTTAGE FLYER (2.00 Fakenham)
BET 3.5pts win ABNAKI and 1.5pts win QUE BEAUTY, plus 1.3pts win (stakes saver) TRIBAL DANCE (2.30 Fakenham)
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