9-2 WINNER IN DAQMAN ‘DOUBLE WHAMMY’: Daqman’s column yesterday exposed Lac Fontana as an ‘ordinary’ horse and, though he was getting nearly a stone from the winner, the Kempton morning favourite was opposed with Forgotten Voice (WON 9-2).
NOW IT’S FIVE LAYS UP OUT OF SIX: Lac Fontana (3rd 9-4) became his fifth successful lay from the last six, with the double whammy paying for yesterday’s bets.
ANOTHER FAVOURITE BITES THE DUST: Only on Friday, Daqman had scored with Goring One (WON 16-1 from BETDAQ 19.0) and Kapga De Cerisy (WON 7-2 from 7.0), Kapga prevailing when he opposed another hot favourite, Fago (2nd 5-2 on).
It’s Fontwell’s big day today. It features the £50,000 National Spirit Hurdle, a Grade 2 with a hot list of past winners including My Way De Solzen, Lough Derg and Celestial Halo.
Paul Nicholls, who trained Celestial Halo, has a greedy three chances, half the field, while Solzen’s stable, Alan King’s, relies solely on Meister Eckhart.
2.10 Fontwell The gap between Seebright and Uncle Jimmy is not an ‘evens and 3-1’ situation, as the BETDAQ market would have us believe this morning.
In fact, the Racing Post ratings cannot split them and, while Seebright has done nothing wrong at a low level, Uncle Jimmy has done well when not overfaced.
If you ignore his Ffos Las run at 3m (too far) and his Lanzarote effort (too classy), then you are left with a win on today’s course and second in a bog at Plumpton when the stable was out of form. Hobbs is really firing now, and he won this race last year.
2.40 Fontwell (Josh Gifford Cup) I’ve watched three Ditcheat morning favourites, Pay The King, Fago and Lac Fontana, ‘get beat’ in the last couple of days.
Poungach, with one-time Cheltenham pretensions, is another disappointment, though brought back to his Haydock winning trip today, the runner-up having franked the form. Poungach has been back to school at Ditcheat, trying to iron out the jumping faults we saw in his race against Dynaste.
Poungach was flying too high in that one, the Feltham at Kempton, just as Shoegazer bit off more than he could chew in the Murphy at Cheltenham. This time it’s tight between the two protagonists in the BETDAQ market; only one point in it. So ‘Pass.’
3.15 Fontwell (Certain Justice Challenge Trophy) Fontwell specialist Cypress Grove – three from four here, two of them chases – couldn’t handle the bad ground at Wincanton on Boxing Day and this summer winner was put by to await a better surface.
The youngster of the party, Financial Climate, is a dual winner at Fontwell, bumper and hurdles, and is another who has had a long break in the wet weather. It’s his first handicap, 8lb lower than his hurdles mark, and he is unexposed at the trip.
Time To Think is two years older but has had only six chase starts; consistent and seems sure to get a place, but is hard to fancy for number-one spot, still 11lb higher than he’s won off.
3.45 Fontwell (National Spirit Hurdle) Paul Nicholls says he can’t split his trio but he won’t get three arrows in the bull.
Brampour and Prospect Wells won’t be Phil Taylor sharp, since their target is the County Hurdle at Cheltenham, and Dark Lover is out quickly, after an excellent run behind My Tent Or Yours in the BF Hurdle, and that has been his undoing in the past.
Meister Eckhart – fifth in the 2012 Albert Bartlett – and World Hurdle outsider Bergo, a Group horse on the Flat, both go well fresh.
Meister Eckhart is double engaged at Cheltenham, well fancied for both the Coral Cup and the Conditional Jockeys’ Hurdle two days later.
He was always thought of as a future chaser when with Charlie Swann so it’s intriguing that he’s been kept to the smaller obstacles, and has a nice rating for the mid-to-lower reaches of the Coral Cup. Fences are for next season, says trainer Alan King.
DAQMAN’S BETS
BET 6.6pts win UNCLE JIMMY (2.10 Fontwell)
BET 6pts win (nap) FINANCIAL CLIMATE (3.15 Fontwell)
BET 2.7pts win MEISTER ECKHART (3.45 Fontwell)
• Daqman’s bets are staked to win 20 points.
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