10-1 DAQMAN NAP WAS 15.5 ON BETDAQ: Daqman, who hit a magnificent sequence of nine winning naps out of 11 in July, was at it again yesterday when his first for August was a belter at 10-1, and even bigger at 15.5 on Betdaq in the morning.
SO CONFIDENT HE BOOSTED HIS STAKE: He not only named Conciliatory (WON 10-1) for the big race of the day, the Brighton Mile, but upped his normal stake so that the nap would win 30 points, instead of his usual 20 target. That follows two bankers out of two at Goodwood, when he boosted his best of the day even further with maximum stakes.
21-1 DOUBLE UP: Daqman was in on another gamble in the Betdaq Mobile Apps Handicap at Kempton last night when the 5-1 forecast Planetoid (WON evens) was a plunge bet and BETDAQ’s biggest positive on the day. Daqman had it doubled with Conciliatory (21-1 in his yankee).
The change in the weather is the challenge today. Haydock is forecast for just a shower or two but, of the six meetings in England, Sandown is likely to be worst hit with plenty of rain on and off all day.
I was going to attempt a Brighton naps double, the Challenge Cup after yesterday’s Mile, but the possibility of soft ground for horses entered up for firmish ground is a betting nightmare. Let’s see what we can salvage from the better-quality races.
3.30 Brighton Challenge Cup: Not a winning favourite in sight this century, but there’s a skillful piece of training here by my old friend, Gay Kelleway, with the forecast fav.
She’s managed to get Hawaana back to last year’s identical winning mark of 79, despite his having won his last two races. In fact, he’s been maneouvred to five successes off 72-79 and, notice, he’s scored on good to soft.
When he won this in 2010, jockey Declan Cannon was able to claim 5lb but had to ride off the official rating when the pair scored at Epsom last time out. Robert Winston, who won on Hawaana in June, is back in the saddle today.
Romeo Montague is 6lb better for the three lengths Plattsburgh beat him at Doncaster but that was Romeo’s first time visored and they may or may not be so effective again.
Amistress also has to come into it. She looks to be racing at the right level, on her Goodwood third, and there’s every chance she will not mind any cut in the ground, her dam being by Pivotal.
4.10 Haydock: The low five stalls have won all bar one in the last decade, with nothing officially rated below 80 (like Ingleby Exceed) reaching the winners’ enclosure.
There’s not much to choose between Roman Eagle and Baptist on Newmarket form in a higher class of race: Baptist was a couple of lengths ahead then but Roman Eagle is the better drawn here and that Newmarket race was his seasonal debut.
However, judged on his form so far, Roman Eagle needs soft ground and, as I’ve said, the forecasters suggest that Haydock is the one place that will not get a drenching. Rain maybe, but not heavy. We’ll see.
Maraheb was the moral at Salisbury, beaten a length by a future winner after a slow start, giving 5lb, and having won his maiden by a street. But there are signs of temperament: he missed the break at Salisbury, flashed his tail at Newmarket.
I’ve come back to Baptist. I think Andrew Balding overfaced him at two in a Group 3 on only his second start and again this season when he attempted the Britannia at Royal Ascot. All too soon but suggesting he works like a good horse at home.
The Newmarket run in class-2 last month was much more like it. He impressed race-watchers, finishing third, and the second horse, Dimension (half a length in front of Baptist), franked the class of the race by running a close second in a big field at the big Goodwood meeting. Baptist was 4.9 when I checked out the Betdaq lists this morning.
7.20 Sandown: Star Surprise is the Sandown horse and has run well enough with cut in the ground. Cruiser, who performed reasonably in the Britannia at Royal Ascot, has already won on soft ground.
So has Tahaamah, and Tenby Lady has won at Wolverhampton, suggesting that she likes to get her toe in, with trainer Sir Mark Prescott unleashing his usual sequence horses at this time of year.
Snag is, of course, the ground may not change, and my speculation will be off beam but, from where I’m sitting, Cruiser and Tahaamah are the wrong prices at 9.0 and 10.0 respectively.
7.55 Sandown: Four-year-olds have a 100% record in the 7.55, but coincidentally all are drawn high: Walter Swinburn won it last year but Vimiero has to break his duck.
Destiny Blue goes up another 3lb in future handicaps but the reliable one this morning over the cornflakes is Rock The Stars (7.8 on the Daq), as a course-and-distance winner from a stable having a good season and a horse with wins recorded on soft as well as firm.
DAQMAN’S BETS
BET 5pts win HAWAANA (3.30 Brighton)
BET 5.1pts win (nap) BAPTIST (4.10 Haydock)
BET 2.5pts win CRUISER and 2.2pts win TAHAAMAH (7.20 Sandown)
BET 2.9pts win ROCK THE STARS (7.55 Sandown)
