BANKER DOUBLE: 11 OUT OF 16: The third leg of Daqman’s daring banker treble unseated rider yesterday. The first two scored at odds much reduced from BETDAQ morning offers: Minella Rocco (WON 2-5) and Hunters Hoof (WON 8-13). That’s 11 bankers up from 16 in the sequence: 111111132121311U.
9-2 WINNER! LET’S HAVE MORE: Daqman also scored yesterday with Bandit Country (WON 9-2) and continues his value challenge to Pricewise of the Racing Post after a hat-trick last Saturday at 8-1 and 5-1 (twice). The score is Daqman 20, Pricewise 11. Today: 3.25 Newbury and 3.45 Doncaster.
CHELTENHAM PREVIEW NEXT WEEK: Don’t miss Daqman’s countdown to Cheltenham with day-by-day stats and facts which will match in advance the Tuesday-Friday action for real the following week.
SOUND CHANCE OF ANOTHER NICHOLLS WIN
1.45 Newbury Channel-4 starts here (‘chewing-gum for the eyes, Dougal’) with Lookslikerainted 10lb lower over hurdles, including Jack Sherwood’s claim, than for his winning chase form.
Trainer Rebecca Curtis has a stunning strike-rate with horses first-time tongue-tied (7-16), and Ted could be a bit of a scoop – or not – in keeping with his 14.0 exchange offers. He’s a teenager in a veterans’ race after only eight starts under Rules.
2.15 Newbury Ten-year-olds are the youngsters in this veterans’ chase and they’ve won it five years out of six. This time Grand National hope Soll is the one tongue-tied. He’s also blinkered first time. They couldn’t find any more room on his face, so they’ve left the cheekpieces off!
He has been expensive to follow (not won for two years until recently; a case of Costa del Sol, eh Del Boy?) but is another with very few miles on the clock for his age: 15 Rules races.
Such as West End Rocker and Monkerty Tunkerty can still win in their turn but they’ve had their turn, the one winning in December the other in January.
Tranquil Sea is a year on from his last win: he goes well after a break and needs good-to-soft ground. His rating has held up for almost two years.
Roalco De Farges, in the other hand, was hit by the handicapper for winning on today’s course a year or so back and has never won off this 140. Can go well fresh though.
It may not be soft enough for Relax but There’s No Panic is a winner of the London National on good ground, and should be thereabouts unless it pours, even though Sam Twiston-Davies is on Ballyoliver.
The CD winner Ballyoliver has also scored at this trip twice on the stiff Carlisle track, and Golden Chieftain won over a similar journey at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival in the JLT.
He’s 19lb lower than at this time last year and the yard has just hit form. Another 14.0 BETDAQ punt.
2.50 Newbury (Ladbrokes Greatwood Hurdle) Punters have managed only one winning favourite (or to put it another way favourites laid nine times successfully)! Eight winners out of 10 have been aged five or six. Pass.
3.25 Newbury (Greatwood Gold Cup) No winner in the decade has carried more than 11st 5lb but there’s been only one older than eight.
That’s a pro and a con for Sound Investment, with trainer Paul Nicholls form in nine seasons of this race: 121110112.
Sound Investment tried to crack Graded and Listed levels twice last year and failed both tests, down the field in the Red Rum Chase at Aintree in the Spring and the Ascot Silver Cup on the last day in December.
Bennys Mist almost succeeded; runner-up in a Grade 3. But his best form – places in the Topham Trophy and the Grand Sefton – were both over the big Grand National fences.
Benny’s wins on park courses, including one here at Newbury, were on heavy ground, all of which makes him a typical Venetia Williams stayer.
Seventh Sky is a most experienced chaser for his age but his second in the Hallo’ween here, which he confirmed with an easy win at Huntingdon, shot him up a stone in the first few weeks of the year.
Both Midnight Belle (needs rain) and Royal Regatta went straight from novice chases to win in class 2 but Regatta’s punters need to hope that the step up in trip here will give him time to sort out his jumping.
If you back him, you also have to be on stablemate Ballygarvey, a glass horse with only three runs since April 2013.
In the end you are taken back to to the Easter Chase at Sandown when the two that followed Sound Investment home were a Grade-3 winner and a Grade-3 placed. He must go close, despite the weight.
THE SPIRIT OF ARKLE IS IN WHISKEY’S DNA
3.45 Doncaster (Grimthorpe Chase) Last year’s winner of this off 136 – now on 146 – Night In Milan is one of this column’s Grand National hopes, taken at 46.0 on BETDAQ.
Night In Milan – 21123 at Doncaster, still standing – made all in a powerful charge round Town Moor last year but, with the National in mind, he’s been learning to settle in one or two recent races.
Cloudy Lane won this in 2008 and became all the rage for Aintree, but he finished sixth at 7-1 joint favourite for Donald McCain
The ground has come right for Night Of Milan here, and for Streams Of Whiskey, whose dam is from the family of Arkle. His chase wins are at 22 furlongs but he proved he could stay with a good hurdles second over 3m plus here at Doncaster in November.
Two of his three wins have come after holidays and the booking of Tom Scudamore looks significant for a stable which is having a great season.
If that’s an eye-catching booking, what about Davy Russell for Drop Out Joe, poised to take off as a stayer any time soon. It could be today.
Another Grand National contender is Mon Parrain, with Paul Nicholls only now decided about what this horse wants. That explains his patchy form, but he has all the aids and is claimed off.
The weights gap between the top two and Streams Of Whiskey still looks big, and I’m bound to hope that Night Of Milan’s performance cuts into his price and gives me a Grand National trade.
STATS TELL US TO STAND BY GLINGERBURN
3.00 Kelso (Premier Hurdle) I told this column to follow Glingerburn, and we’ve been rewarded with a hat-trick at 16-1, 11-4 and 14-5. He’ll still be decent odds against here, giving weight all round.
We also have a vested interest in Grade-1 scorer Bristol De Mai for the Triumph Hurdle but an improved performance here could take him to Aintree instead.
That’s the case for the three principals in this.
Both ‘our’ horses have to give lumps of weight to Intense Tango, an impressive Grade-2 winner at Doncaster on the last day.
But (there’s always a ‘but’ isn’t there), no four-year-old has won this race, going right back; two have finished second, one of them beaten when on a five-timer.
And four of the last six winners have carried top weight. So – he owes us nothing – we’ll play up our winnings on Glingerburn.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 30 points, unless otherwise stated)
BET 2.3pts win LOOKSLIKERAINTED (1.45 Newbury)
BET 1.3pts win GOLDEN CHIEFTAIN (2.15 Newbury)
BET 10pts win GLINGERBURN (3.00 Kelso)
BET 7.5pts win (nap) SOUND INVESTMENT (3.25 Newbury)
BULL’S-EYE BETS (to win 50): 8pts win NIGHT IN MILAN and 6pts win STREAMS OF WHISKEY (3.45 Doncaster)
NEW !!!
You can now follow BETDAQ updates on Google+
For further details – CLICK HERE
£30 FREE BET & 0% COMM MULTIPLES
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.
