GUINEAS AND DERBY ANTE-POST AT 31.0 AND 27.0: Daqman has had a long spree of ante-post success, including Rock On Ruby (11-1 from 17.0) in the recent Champion Hurdle. Now he picks a Fab Five to follow, including 1,000 Guineas and Derby bets.
Crusade: The Ballydoyle colt figures in the betting – dwarfed of course by stablemate Camelot – for both the Newmarket and Curragh 2,000 Guineas, and he may stay that far.
But his pedigree shouts sprinter; so did his effort in the Breeders Cup Juvenile in November on the back of his Middle Park (6f) win at Newmarket.
Seven individual runners from that Juvenile have already won Graded or Group races in 2012, including Crusade’s stablemate, Daddy Long Legs, in Sunday’s UAE Derby.
While Daddy Long Legs now heads for the Kentucky Derby, keep your eyes peeled for Crusade, who finished sixth in the Juvenile when ‘Daddy’ was only 12th.
New Fforest: My token two-year-old in the list. It had to be an Oasis Dream, if I am going to trap precociousness with quality potential. Also, it had to trained by Andrew Balding, since the word on the grapevine is that he has ‘several picture cards in his pack’ of juveniles this season. One or two could be aces.
Planteur: Planteur’s World Cup third on Sunday won him almost as much as Daddy Long Leg’s UAE Derby purse. It was a rewarding day for his new trainer, Marco Botti.
Winner of the Prix Ganay at this time last year, Planteur failed to hold his own at Group-1 level, fourth to Rewilding at Royal Ascot and then fifth in the Jacques Le Marois.
But this Spring horse (form before June each season now stands at 1113) looks an ideal candidate for the Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh in May, his World Cup third being one place in front of last year’s TGC winner, So You Think.
Swedish Sailor: My Godolphin man reports that this one is the big improver in the yard and ‘could be anything’. He’s bred from a daughter of Nashwan, who landed both Guineas and Derby.
So far her foals have not done much but here the mix is with a sire (Monsun) whose progeny includes multiple winner Manduro – beat Dylan Thomas in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes – Shiroccco, who stopped both Ouija Board and Hurricane Run in his time, and the very smart French filly Stacelita.
Swedish Sailor is 27.0 in Betdaq offers for the Epsom Derby (20-1 and 25-1 with bookmakers) and is my ‘coconut shy’ at the race before the trials begin.
Swedish Sailor had just the one run as a juvenile at Yarmouth late last October when he came home five lengths in front of a much-heralded runner-up, Frankel’s brother, Noble Mission. That may prove to be top-class form.
Diala: There’s a discrepancy in the 1,000 Guineas books, with Lyric Of Light as low as 8-1 yet the filly she was lucky to beat at Newmarket last August, Diala (couldn’t find a gap) is 25-1, and bigger on Betdaq, of course, at 31.0.
Lyric Of Light went on to complete a hat-trick, stepping through the ranks via the May Hill (Group 2) to win the Fillies’ Mile (Group 1) at the end of September.
Diala was kept away from the top prizes and merely allowed to stroll home, back at Newmarket, to break her maiden in a big field, travelling strongly all the way. That means she has remained ‘dark’ and eminently backable.
DAQMAN’S BETS
BET 4.6pts win (nap) SHAMARDELIAH (3.45 Redcar)
BET 2.2pts win and place MR OPTIMISTIC (4.15 Redcar)
ANTE-POST: WIN-50 JACKPOT: 1.6pts win DIALA (31.0 for the 1,000 Guineas)
ANTE-POST: WIN-50 JACKPOT: 1.9pts win SWEDISH SAILOR (27.0, Epsom Derby)
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