YES, IT’S 19 BANKERS OUT OF 24: Daqman opened yet another bottle of banker bubbly with a staggering 19th win from his last 24 maximum-stakes bets, a breathtaking cross-country from Balthazar King (WON 4-7) at Cheltenham yesterday.
SIX CONSECUTIVE SINCE SUNDAY: Balthazar King was the first of two out of two winning headline bets and his sixth banker in a row from Sunday. Here are the 19 for a strike rate of marginally under 80%:
WON 4-6 BRAVO ZOLO
WON 1-4 GERMANY CALLING
WON 4-11 HIGH SECRET
WON 4-6 CONVEY
WON 5-6 SOUTHFIELD THEATRE
WON 8-13 SHAKOPEE
WON 3-10 SARSTED
WON 2-11 THE NEW ONE
WON 4-9 MILES TO MEMPHIS
WON 11-10 CHIDSWELL
WON 8-13 GOLDENCENTS
WON 1-1 TOTHEMOONANDBACK
WON 4-6 SOUTHFIELD THEATRE
WON 8-13 ZAIDPOUR
WON 1-5 EL NAMOOSE
WON 3-10 TARA POINT
WON 8-13 STARS OVER THE SEA
WON 8-11 CHAMPAGNE FEVER
WON 4-7 BALTHAZAR KING
8-1 AND MORE CHAMPAGNE! It’s a Champagne day at Cheltenham, said Daqman yesterday. And he was celebrating both before and after the banker (which was also part of six naps in a row), so that his day of 38 points profit – 65 points in two days -looked like this:
WON 7-2 CHAMPAGNE WEST
WON 4-7 BALTHAZAR KING (banker nap)
WON 8-1 MORITO DU BERLAIS
FOUR PRICEWISE CHALLENGE RACES: Look out for Bull’s-Eye Bets today and the challenge to Pricewise in the 2.0, 2.35 Lingfield, and 2.30, 3.0 Cheltenham. There will be another banker tomorrow.
LOUIS MAY PACK A PUNCH OFF LOW MARK
12.40 Cheltenham Group-placed in the Sagaro Stakes on the Flat – second to a dual French Gold Cup winner – the mare Earth Amber needs the mud, though may also want further than today’s 2m.
The tough track will help but, thus far, she’s been beaten twice in low-class, novice non-events.
Chesterfield’s wins have been on a sound surface and Diamond Dame has a penchant for a right-handed track. Golden Jubilee has not been fluent at his hurdles.
Front-runner Great Choice, by Westerner, is well regarded, and worth a pound at 8.0 this morning, now dropped back in trip.
I’m expecting Verano to go with him and stretch this field, but John Louis looks ‘the one most likely to’ off his handicap mark.
1.15 Cheltenham In the last decade, this has produced a winner (Albertas Run), second and third in the RSA at the festival.
‘Our leading novice-chase prospect’ is how David Pipe describes Kings Palace. Back-to-back hurdles wins on this course (slammed Creepy 18 lengths) but fluffed his lines in the Albert Bartlett.
Sausalito Sunrise represents yesterday’s unbeatable stable, with the RSA his declared target. In fact, all the opposition to Kings Palace have already won a chase. But that’s why he has been given a 5lb advantage over the field.
1.50 Cheltenham There have been no winners of this race in the last decade with more than 11st 9lb, and only one of a double-figure age.
The 2013 Cheltenham festival winner Golden Chieftain got a big word from trainer Colin Tizzard before the Badger Ales at Wincanton a week ago but left the landing gear down early on. That was his first fall in three years.
The Package is a glass horse who doesn’t stand much racing, but he’s been placed three times at the Cheltenham festival.
Lamb Or Cod is consistent but, having lost his novice status now, finds himself giving weight to most of them in an open handicap here.
That’s a difficult combination of circumstances for a front-runner. The Druids Nephew and Shattered Dream also take a keen hold.
Sam Winner has won just a bumper and a four-horse novice-chase in getting on for four years, but one man who hasn’t lost faith in him is trainer Paul Nicholls, who targets the Hennessy and the Lexus after this.
His 147 rating puts him nicely in the Hennessy off 10st 12lb but means he has to carry 11st 12lb here on his first outing since he pulled up in the Scottish Grand National in April. ‘Another day’ for the RSA fifth.
The grey Gevrey Chambertin is an in-and-out performer, trying a marathon trip for the first time. Best caught fresh.
It all points to ‘a turn-up,’ and the shrewdie stable with the lightweight is that of Henry Daly with Safran de Cotte, who would be making it a hat-trick in the race for horses carrying the minimum 10st.
If the Warwick Classic and the Eider had been at this trip, Safran De Cotte (13.5 this morning) would have finished in the frame, maybe won one or both of them. His form after a break is 11413
CASTLE MOVE FOR GOLD CUP CHECKMATE
2.30 Cheltenham (PP Gold Cup) You may remember that, earlier in the week, when there were 44 in this, I had Shanpallas, Kapga De Cerisy and Buywise marked on the card as the right age with the right rating and huge offers still abound on BETDAQ which would give you a trade, among just 18 left in.
Buywise, a Cheltenham course-and-distance winner in the Silver Trophy there in April, was earlier only fifth when Present View beat Attaglance at the Cheltenham festival (holds Persian Snow and, therefore, Johns Spirirt).
Buywise blundered away his chance that day and there seems not much between this trio. All have had a run back.
Shanpallas (22.0 in the orange, as I write) won the Ladbrokes Munster National at Limerick just over a month back after sloppy jumps at the business end cost him the Kerry National when the money was down.
So the problem with Buywise is his jumping. The snags with Shanpallas is that all his best form is on a sound surface, and he didn’t jump well on the New Course here when behind Indian Castle.
Indian Castle was well beaten in the Kim Muir at the festival but that was much further than today, and I think he’s back to his best distance here.
This is also the optimum trip for Caid Du Berlais, another Westerner placed at the festival over hurdles, but he’s only five.
Kapga De Cerisy (20.0 on BETDAQ` early mouse) won a class 2 at Sandown straight back from a long holiday a year ago and has not been since since. A glass horse or a plot horse?
The market should tell us something. He often starts at big prices but, when he was 9-2 or lower in 2013-14, albeit in lesser company than this, his returns were 13111, still standing (once fell, once brought down).
So what’s the snag this time? A little matter of 9lb more in the saddle and he’s only ever won at Sandown, and made jumping mistakes at the festival in March. I took 12.0 Indian Castle, who has started the last two seasons with a win.
3.00 Cheltenham Grand National winner Pineau de Re is on the long haul back to Aintree in April ,18lb higher than at the start of the year in a race usually won by a youngster with a sub-11st weight.
That points straight to stablemate Masterofdeception but this dual summer winner is also up in the ratings and there’s a doubt about the soft ground.
Big Easy, on the other hand, looks kindly treated off 135, after running away with the Cesarewitch. He’s already won at Cheltenham off this mark, though might not want any more rain.
Katkeau will love it softer the better, and the winner of a big Auteuil handicap, who hasn’t had much luck in running in UK, could be disguised. But plenty seem to have seen through that disguise, as a gamble seemed under way this morning.
Vivaldi Collonges is massively up in the weights for an easy win at Ayr so they used his novice status first run back, a gamble over today’s CD. It nearly came off but he was beaten favourite in the end, and looks high in the handicap here.
Blinkers first time may help Fighter Jet but it’s a bit of desperation after his two seconds and, though the Oasis Dream gelding isn’t bred for it, Alan King may even try fences later on.
Heronshaw is another Henry Daly lower-reaches lurker, but is a keen sort who may use himself up. I am on Katkeau and Big easy.
STEP UP FOR BIG-PRICED LINGFIELD NAP
2.00 Lingfield (Golden Rose Stakes) Thanks BETDAQ for a big chance to make something out of these two feature races from orange lists tallying to only 107% this morning. Punter-friendly or what!
Aertex won a class 4 at this trip in May but steps up to Listed here, and she’s failed to raise her game on the Flat. Fresles, too, hasn’t been able to hack it in the Pattern.
The ‘retired’ jockey Jamie Spencer rides Intransigent, taking over from a boy who was just too late over 7f on this hold-up horse. Intransigent has won over 6f before but has to give weight all round. Polybius beat nothing at Kempton, and Medicean Man is nine in a few weeks.
The one I like is Golden Steps, who ran two good races at Ascot in the summer, and is back to the right trip today. A tasty 7.4 on BETDAQ and a sporting nap after all the short prices of the banker sequence (which I’m saving up for tomorrow).
2.35 Lingfield (Churchil Stakes) Pattern performer Energia Fox has drifted like a lonely dog on a raft this morning in favour of stablemate Energia Davos, like Golden Step trained by Marco Botti, who beat Fire Fighting with Grendisar recently.
Both Battalion and Educate are better on a soft surface, and I prefer the Cambridgeshire runner-up, Niceofyoutotellme.
But I also need to be on a three-year-olds,. They have won four of the last six. I fancy Jamie Spencer this time with Snowmane, who scooted up on the man-made surface at Dundalk last month: 9.2 on BETDAQ, as I write.
DAQMAN’S BETS: (each horse backed to win 20 points, except Bull’s Eye Bets to win 50)
BET 2.5pts win on each GREAT CHOICE and JOHN LOUIS (12.40 Cheltenham)
BET 2pts win GOLDEN CHIEFTAIN and 1.6pts win SAFRAN DE COTTE (1.50 Cheltenham)
BET 3pts win (nap) GOLDEN STEPS (2.00 Lingfield)
BULL’S-EYE BET 4.5pts win (and 1pt place stakes saver) INDIAN CASTLE (2.30 Cheltenham)
BET 3pts win NICEOFYOUTOTELLME and 2.4pts win SNOWMANE (2.35 Lingfield)
BULL’S EYE-BETS: 12pts win KATKEAU and 8.5pts win BIG EASY (3.00 Cheltenham)
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