COURAGE OF A 3-1 WINNING DAQMAN NAP: Though most of his bets got stuck in the mud yesterday, Daqman was redeemed by a gutsy performance from his nap, Handazan (WON 3-1), who beat the highly regarded For Two.
AND BRAVERY (OR IS IT?) OF SECOND ANTE-POST CUP BET: Daqman has 16.0 on BETDAQ about a current Melbourne Cup non-runner. But the horse could get into the race by winning another trial on Saturday. So our man steps in again at 34.0.
This will be ‘the day we went to Bangor’. The song is about as out of date as my summer shorts but it’s time to think of gearing up for the winter months. And Alan King is a long leap ahead of us.
‘Kingy’ is currently cleaning up as the jumps get into their stride. The trainer, who has a 63% win-and-place strike-rate, has just the one runner at Bangor today, Hollow Penny (2.30).
The Barbury Castle inmates must be super fit if those results, and the performance yesterday of my nap, Handazan, are anything to go by. He found extra lungs, battling through the Aintree mud.
Hollow Penny has Fabrika (non-runner) out of the way but a potentially formidable opponent in Mount Hope, though that one wasn’t foot perfect in a point-to-point.
‘Certainties’ and ‘formalities’ rarely exist in racing but Tominator (3.30) looks a league ahead of his field. It’s a comfortable hurdles introduction for the recent Cesarewitch third and he should go on to better things.
I’m also convinced that Mount Benbulben (2.25 Naas), a top novice hurdler, has the makings of a chasing star. Another sole starter at a meeting for a stable in top form, though Gordon Elliott also has runners at Galway.
As the Flat fades out in England, we have class 2 and 3 races at Leicester but, as ever these days, there are far more poor-quality animals about so these events are not highly subscribed, though there are plenty of runners at a lower level on the card.
Shamaal Nibras (2.20) looked unlucky in a class 2 at Goodwood in August – favourite, held up till too late – and won courageously on heavy at Salisbury. He’s had a fortnight to get over that and could be too good for the old-timers.
Capaill Liath is still only four but is a frustrating animal: has gone up 5lb for three consecutive places and today’s 1m is as far as he wants to go.
ANTE-POST: I took offers of 16.0 Gatewood for the Melbourne Cup but his penalty for taking the Geelong may not be enough to get John Gosden’s improver into the race.
Now Gatewood is to take in a Group-3 at Flemington on Saturday in the hope of an exemption from the big-race eliminations.
He will be ridden by Glen Boss who won the Geelong on him. That Boss wants to keep the ride in the Cup is a pointer in itself, since he won another top trial, the Cox Plate.
The last two Geelong winners have taken the £4m Melbourne prize, which is why I took the 16.0. Now I’m going in again at 34.0. I need two winners – for Gatewood to win on Saturday as well as in the Cup itself – to collect. But, then, it’s never easy, is it..
DAQMAN’S BETS
BET 6.6pts win SHAMAAL NIBRAS (2.20 Leicester)
BET 6pts win (nap) HOLLOW PENNY (2.30 Bangor)
DAQ MULTIPLES: 3 x 3pts win doubles and 1pt win treble HOLLOW PENNY (2.30 Bangor) with MOUNT BENBULBEN (2.25 Naas) and TOMINATOR (3.30 Bangor)
ANTE-POST: WIN-30 JACKPOT: 0.9pts win GATEWOOD (Melbourne Cup)
Daqman’s bets are staked to win 20 points at the offer he spotted at the time of writing. So, if you divide 20 by his stake, you will always know what that offer was. Jackpot bets and Daq Multiples have specified stakes.
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.
