TWO JUMPS CARDS SAVED TODAY: Sandown lost but the Jumps meetings saved today at Newcastle and Wincanton, though with more weather problems next week.
✅ SAVED NEWCASTLE and WINCANTON today
❌ ABANDONED: SANDOWN today
❓ VULNERABLE Covers on at MARKET RASEN, Tuesday
🌧️ WATERLOGGED: LEICESTER Wednesday
☔ FLOODED: HUNTINGDON Friday
DAQMAN LEADS PRICEWISE 19-7: Terrestrial TV switches to the meetings at Newcastle and Wincanton, where Daqman finds a hot double and a daring small-stakes treble. He challenges Pricewise, with the scores 19-7. Daqman is 570 points clear to 10-point level stakes.
GET IN ON OLD PALS ACT
⭕ 1.40 Newcastle With one exception this 2m 1f novices hurdle has been won by a well-fancied recent winner or second coming into the race.
Two Auld Pals, who loves deep ground, and Forged Well fit the bill, with the stats favouring the six-year-old (that age group has scored three in a row) who receives 10lb from Forged Well.
What also sways me to Two Auld Pals is the current form of both trainer and jockey, Lucinda Russell and Patrick Wadge: between December 23 and January 5, the partnership chalked up five winners and a third from seven out of 10 to finish.
The exception that recently won today’s race at a price was a 25-1 hit for Sandy Thomson and Ryan Mania in 2020. Today they have a similar outsider in Whosymydaddy.
Brian Hughes won it as champion jockey, and his mount today, We Got Your Back, is one to keep an eye on after a wind op, but maybe the trip is too short for a Kayf Tara.
Nick Scholfield, who partners Sue Smith’s more fancied runners, is in ‘toon’ for the ride on Konfusion, twice placed but out of action 543 days.
WINS DOING HANDSTANDS
⭕ 2.15 Newcastle Another novices’ hurdle but 2m 4f+ That’s a much-needed step up in trip for Raffles Wonder, from the Rebecca Menzies yard that won the race in 2022.
But Ben Pauling, who had a winner at this meeting last year, and has scored three times since Boxing Day, has a hot-pot Getaway five-year-old, Handstands.
Handstands has won a Point on heavy and skipped away from his field at Hereford on good ground, a debut win in novices hurdles at the expense of an odds-on favourite, who had been so highly thought of he’d tried to complete an autumn hat-trick by taking in a Grade 2 at Cheltenham.
GREY SKY’S APPROPRIATE
⭕ 1.30 Wincanton Fast Buck is a very moderate 1-14 over fences and ex-Auteuil winner, Prince Quali, has raced only once (beaten 25 lengths here) in 627 days.
The softer the better for Mr Grey Sky but needs the first-time cheekpieces to reproduce the form of his autumn double in lower grade.
SAINT’S A LIVE FAVOURITE
2.40 Wincanton A flash flood at the Ditcheat yard was not a good omen for Huelgoat, whose best form for Paul Nicholls is on good to firm, good, good to soft at worst.
Surely, the heavy going is more like Venetia Williams’ ground. Georges Saint loves it, though the handicapper has hit him for an overall 12lb to stop a hat-trick after strikes at Fakenham and Ffos Las.
Jacamar’s form at Wincanton is 11322 and he’s slipped 20lb down the handicap, though that wasn’t enough to get him home here at the Boxing Day meeting, staying on second, lacking the pace to put the race to bed.
Go Steady was not disgraced at Cheltenham the last day but this track is a tough task for a 12-year-old and he has more than 17 lengths to make up on Huelgoat on autumn form (Dibble Decker 26 lengths to find from the same race).
With Jane Williams on 2-3, she might get the best out of Honneur d’Ajonc, a winner here over hurdles two years ago in a four-from-six burst of form, one of the wins on heavy. But his form last Spring and autumn was poor.
HUGHES KING OF THE CASTLE
⭕ 2.50 Newcastle Still at 2m 4f but a low-level handicap chase, won two years running by Micky Hammond with the old boy, Knocknamona, who followed up from this at Carlisle last year and is still in training at the age of 13.
Hammond has booked Brian Hughes in this today for Carrigeen Castle, who has so far failed to capitalise on his ready Irish Point win. Similarly, his decent hurdler Great Raffles has struggled on the prevailing ground.
Goodoldbill, who started life with Shark Hanlon, gave trainer Jane Walton sleepless nights, worrying about the money she laid out for him, after twice being pulled up in three starts.
But in her words ‘he turned the corner’ to score here at Newcastle in November, stepped up threequarters of a mile. He’s down two furlongs today but still looks nicely in.
How tricky this one is! Betdaq Betting Exchange offers this morning at the front of the market were 4.1, 5.5, 5.5, then another three at 7.4, 7.8 and 8.3 Carrigeen Castle.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.30 Wincanton (win 10)
BET 4pts win MR GREY SKY
1.40 Newcastle (win 10)
BET 10pts win TWO AULD PALS
2.15 Newcastle (win 30)
BET 1pt win and place RAFFLES WONDER
2.40 Wincanton (win 12, nap)
BET 6pts win GEORGES SAINT
2.50 Newcastle (win 12)
BET 1.6pts win CARRIGEEN CASTLE
3.15 Wincanton (win 12)
BET 2.5pts win ASTRONOMIC VIEW
DAQ MULTIPLES
BET 5pts win double
HANDSTANDS (2.15 Newcastle)
GEORGES SAINT (2.40 Wincanton)
plus
BET 1pt win treble the two with
CARRIGEEN CASTLE (2.50 Newcastle)
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