DAQMAN HAT-TRICK OF HOT-POTS: Three 20-point Goodwood bets, three winners! That’s Daqman’s score this week with two supernaps and yesterday’s sole Fortune Cookie of the glorious meeting, Big Evs of course.
Goodwood Friday:
WON 13-8 BIG EVS (Fortune Cookie)
Goodwood Thursday
WON 4-5 JAN BRUEGHEL (supernap)
WON 9-4 OPERA SINGER
Goodwood Tuesday
WON 7-1 TAKE HEART (16.5 taken on BETDAQ)
WON 8-13 KYPRIOS (supernap)
MARKET EDGE FROM BETDAQ: Daqman picks five of the seven races for a glorious Goodwood farewell, as ever plotting for BETDAQ offers to give him an edge.
AASY FOR GLORIOUS FINALE
⭕ 1.50 Goodwood (Glorious Stakes) Phantom Flight, beaten twice by Al Aasy in the late summer last year, had his revenge in first-time hood at Newbury a fortnight ago.
But it was a slow-run race, and it is always debatable whether the hood will work twice in such a short time. Al Aasy is reunited with Jim Crowley, his winningmost jockey: BETDAQ 4.6.
A pair of beaten favourites should not worry us: Relentless Voyager got his high rating from an Epsom handicap on the soft and Lion’s Pride, Listed winner on Kempton AW, still has to earn such a mark on turf (currently 0-3).
Aimeric, progressive in handicaps, can’t be left out of this intriguing opener on the final day, with reputations at stake.
Team Gosden has had three winners at Goodwood this week, where Andrew Balding, Roger Varian and William Haggas have scored one apiece.
JOHNSTONS ALIGN ONE-TWO
⭕ 2.25 Goodwood (Summer Handicap) Team Gosden has won this for the last two seasons and the Johnstons took it four times in six years before that.
Their likely favourite, Align The Stars, goes for a hat-trick, taking in this handicap after swerving a Group 3 during the week.
The Johnstons also run Knightswood, who overcame a bad start and stayed on behind Fairbanks when stepped up for the first time to 1m 6f on the July Course. He’s 7lb better off.
Fairbanks needed first-time blinkers that day and they may not be so successful second time around, but he has scored three times under Oisin Murphy.
The grey Intinso for the Gosdens has his eighth race with Hollie Doyle in the saddle; just one win so far and that on AW.
Second at this meeting last year off 81, True Legend is now on 93. Was runner-up here again (not clear run) in May but, though steadily improving, has failed to score since winning a class 5 last year at this time.
BETDAQ value 15.5 Knightswood, 5 Align The Stars (saver)
STARS RACE IS INTERNATIONAL
⭕ 3.00 Goodwood (Lillie Langtry Stakes) STATS: Despite the 1m 6f trip, a low draw – whether hot shot or outsider – has invariably conquered this, with the results by stall in the decade: 4, 1, 2, 1, 3, 4, 2, 7, 2, 1.
Oisin Murphy proved yesterday – from gate 21 in the Golden Mile – that the draw doesn’t always count against a clever trainer and a class jockey, albeit he was on one that had crashed 20lb in the handicap since arriving at David Menuisier’s in England.
Group-level fillies are rarely held up like that but Team Gosden, which started the year with problems in the yard, have Free Wind on just one run so far.
Free Wind was a beaten odds-on favourite in this last year with the going heavy. The Yorkshire Oaks runner-up on firm returned on the Yorkshire track in May, runner-up to Bluestocking, who was second to Goliath in the King George last week.
It all reads like game over but Free Wind is six and the race is international, with Francis-Henri Graffard (Vermeille runner-up Melo Melo) raiding for France but first time on firm ground, and Ireland in full cry with three top trainers on the attack.
It’s not a race Aidan O’Brien wins and Grateful has a high draw in 11, adjacent to Henry De Bromhead’s mare, Term of Endearment, probably lucky to beat stamina-laiden Night Sparkle (carried left; slightly hampered) at York, with River Of Stars third.
Dancing Tango (Joseph O’Brien) just failed to give Grateful a stone in the Stanerra (1m 6f, a Group lower) at Fairyhouse in July and has the best of the draw today, next door to River Of Stars (1) who will love the ground.
BETDAQ value 16 Dancing Tango, 10 River Of Stars, 4.1 Free Wind
BIG-VALUE COVER UP AT 28.0
⭕ 3.35 Goodwood (Stewards Cup) STATS: Winners by stall (12 years) 4, 26, 22, 1, 4, 15, 25, 3, 17, 23, 19, 15 (winning groups 1-4 and 15-25). RATINGS: 10 of the 12 were on 101 or higher. WEIGHT: 8st 11lb to 9st 6lb (9-10). TRAINERS: Michael Dods 2, David O’Meara 2.
1 PUROSANGUE (14) Some 4lb ahead of the handicapper here. Has won on firm ground but Listed win on soft. Placed twice at Group level this year after neck second to Big Evs in the King George Stakes here last season. (pictured below with Purosangue on left in blue cap)
2 COVER UP (26) Improved form on AW in the winter and good run after slow start in the Wokingham. Stable has regained top form this summer.
3 WODAO (2) Dropped 12lb below last year’s level for Donnacha O‘Brien (Group-3 placed); gelded before first run after switching to Jamie Osborne five weeks back but ignored in the market this morning.
4 BILLYJOH (4) The grey finished second in the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot (7f firm); another grey, Mostabshir, was fourth; The X O 9th.
5 ALEEZDANCER (22) First of five in low-drawn group when fifth in this race last year. Showed ‘unexplained improvement’ when down in the weights and won at York (6f) in May; back up the handicap since. Which Aleezdancer will we see?
6 DREAM COMPOSER (15) Good run at Ascot the last day after winning the Dash at Epsom (good to soft) following a neck defeat here on good ground a grade lower.
SUMMERGHAND (18) Always threatens, though now 10. He’s 12lb lower than when winning at York last August; there was another long gap before that to his Ayr Gold Cup success of 2022.
DARK THIRTY (19) Fourth to Rhoscolyn (7f heavy) at this meeting last year and has won over 6f and 7f on good ground since.
Betdaq Betting Exchange 28 Cover Up, 8.3 Billyjoh, 6 Purosangue
MURPHY MAGIC ON WARRIOR
⭕ 5.20 Goodwood The getting-out stakes for Goodwood week is a 1m 1f handicap. Favourites have won the last four but only lightly-weighted three-year-olds have scored not 9st 7lb top-weights.
That’s a strong hint for Celtic Warrior (BETDAQ 11.0), who has two more pluses: he’s been working well in cheekpieces (first time in public today) and he has Oisin Murphy doing the steering, in tremendous form after taking the Golden Mile apart yesterday.
Murphy won on Celtic Warrior at Kempton in the Spring and the gelding’s best effort since has been at Goodwood, when he led twice in the race but not on the line, beaten half a length under an apprentice in June
Rowayeh, who was 6.8 on BETDAQ this morning, was fourth (not clear run) in the Kensington Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and is another live one for Jim Crowley today
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.50 Goodwood (win 12)
BET 3.2pts win AL AASY
2.25 Goodwood (win 30)
BET 2pts win KNIGHTSWOOD
BET 3pts to win 12 ALIGN THE STARS
3.00 Goodwood (win-50 bull’s-eye bets)
BET 5pts win RIVER OF STARS
BET 3.25pts win DANCING TANGO
BET 10pt to win 30 FREE WIND
3.35 Goodwood (win-50 plus x2 win 30)
BULL’S-EYE BET 1.85pts win COVER UP
BET 6pts win PUROSANGUE
BET 4pts win BILLYJOH
5.20 Goodwood (win 30, nap)
BET 3pts win CELTIC WARRIOR
BET 2pts to win 12 ROWAYEH
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