MORE BETDAQ VALUE AS DAQMAN SPOTS BASODA (WON 4-1 from 7.8): Daqman was on yesterday’s Kempton gamble Basoda (WON 4-1), revealing that conditions were right for a repeat in the race, despite a two-year gap and a recent lay-off.
ALL PAID FOR BY 10-1 JACKPOT: It followed another Saturday coup by Daqman with two jackpot winners, including Nadiya De La Vega (WON 10-1).
It’s a lethal combination for the layer. A southern trainer coming good in the late season travels North and books a jockey who’s rekindled the fire in his belly. The horse in question is reverting to its winning trip for the first time in 15 months after failures over further have brought its rating down to within a couple of pounds of that successful strike.
But BETDAQ layers were letting you bet 9.0 Amanda Perrett’s Trend Is My Friend (4.50) at Pontefract this morning. Kieren Fallon has been booked, still struggling for winners after an amazing ride on Aaim To Prosper in the Cesarewitch: on the day Frankie Dettori has turned freelance, he of all people knows how hard it is to go it alone.
Amanda Perrett has persevered with horses of the lower order in an uninspiring season until, starting a week ago, she mugged the layers with three crackers in five days at 11-2, 7-1 and 7-2 joint favourite.
Another layers’ nightmare is the trainer who habitually sneaks one under the radar, just when they think they have everything covered, as in the two-year-olds’ Listed Silver Tankard’ (3.50).
One of those they least expect is Esteaming but the Sir Percy colt could well come steaming in from the early-doors 17.0, outsider of the whole field on BETDAQ.
It’s rare for me to fancy a horse with form figures 222 but branding Esteaming a bridesmaid may have been understandable a couple of months ago: now, after his break, he is fresh and has been working like a more mature animal.
Esteaming is Mick Channon’s pick for this Pontefract pot, with the yard having five in a row in the frame in recent years, showing form that produces figures of 11413 since 2006.
As with the Trend Is My Friend race, the handicap at Windsor (4.00), and many like it, go to young horses at this stage in the season. Time marches on and those labeled six, seven and nine are just a few weeks away now from being seven, eight and 10.
The stats say they have failed to cope with the young bloods – aged three and four – in the entire eight-year history of this race, with second-season animals leading 5-3.
Amanda Perrett could again supply the winner with dual soft-ground scorer Pivotman (11.5) and John Gosden’s Selkirk grey, Splendid Light (9.2), has been dropped in grade from a series of efforts in class 2 and 3.
You get the feeling that Tim Easterby might just want to win the 2.50 at Pontefract. He saddles three of the runners and in a race full of once raced animals and debutants it may pay to stick with the most experience and Medici Dancer is my nap of the day.
Make no mistakes, Pontefract in soft ground is a slog up the hill and Medici Dancer proved last time that she can cope with the ground when tried on it for the first time and giving backers of 1/5 favourite Danat Al Atheer an almighty scare. She was only pegged back by the hot shot inside the final furlong when beaten a neck. There was a full 31 lengths back to the third (yes it was six furlongs and not the Eider Chase). It would be crazy to get carried away with that form but Medici Dancer proved she’s a better horse on this ground and the betting and jockey bookings suggest she is the chosen one for the stable today.
DAQMAN’S BETS
BET 1.25pts win and 2.5pts place ESTEAMING (3.50 Pontefract)
BET 2.4pts win SPLENDID LIGHT and 1.9pts win PIVOTMAN (4.00 Windsor)
BET 2.5pts win TREND IS MY FRIEND (4.50 Pontefract)
BET 10pts win (nap) MEDICI DANCER (2.50 Pontefract)
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