ANOTHER DERBY AND OAKS WITH FORTUNE COOKIES TO THE FORE: Another huge meal of racing today! But for those who were not full up on six (race)courses yesterday, including the indigestible Derby and Oaks, there are five more today, among them the French flavour of their own Derby and Oaks. Daqman’s Fortune Cookies play out the first half of their season.
BIG-ODDS BETDAQ ATTACK ON PRICEWISE: DAQMAN LEADS 15-5: Daqman’s search for value as he leads Pricewise 15-5 includes a BETDAQ 10.0 shot in the French Oaks, 9.0 in the Old Newton Cup, and 9.0 in the Coral Challenge plus 7.7 in a totally baffling Coral-Eclipse of negatives all round.
VOTE VICTOR FOR A CLASSIC DOUBLE
⭕ 2.10 Chantilly, Prix Du Jockey Club (French Derby)
DERBY WINNING TRAINERS: Andre Fabre 4, Jean-Claude Rouget 4. Rouget is current leading trainer with 51 winners in 2020; Fabre is third with 27.
JOCKEYS Cristian Demuro has won two of the last three Derbys but Pierre-Charles Boudot goes into the meeting leading the French-jockey’s table with a massive total of 97 this year.
DRAW: Stalls 5, 6 and 7 (four out of six).
1️⃣ VICTOR LUDORUM Won the French Guineas, confirming his star status following success in the Lagardere last autumn. He’s one of Godolphin’s Shamardals and will be hard to beat from the one stall, which won it in 2017.
2️⃣ OCEAN ATLANTIQUE Daqman fans scored with Victor Ludorum and Ocean Atlantique during the English/Irish shutdown. I put them in the Fortune Cookies, and now have both running for me at a poor percentage return, staked the same. Shame.
Ocean Atlantique is the improver, and Pierre-Charles Boudot rides, but he’s drawn out near the chateau in 14.
3️⃣ PAO ALTO Won the best trial for this, the Prix La Force, but the runner-up, Ocean Atlantique has improved since then. Chachnak was third. Maxime Guyon rides.
4️⃣ THE SUMMIT Runner-up to Victor Ludorum in the French Guineas, after beating Ecrivain (not clear run) in the Fontainebleau. Drawn wide in 16.
5️⃣ PORT GUILLAUME Jean-Claude Rouget’s number one, ridden by Cristian Demuro, beat Gold Trip and Dawn Intello when completing his hat-trick on the last day. Out of gate 4.
6️⃣ HURRICANE DREAM Another with a hat-trick under his belt; popular among the breeding tips, as a grandson of Siyouni. But stall 11.
FORT MYERS Aidan O’Brien’s War Front colt out of his 1,000 Guineas winner, Marvellous, was a raw sort last year, third to Siskin in the Railway Stakes. But even further behind the same colt in the Irish 2,000 Guineas this season.
MISHRIFF (stall 3) brings only a Listed success to the table for John Gosden and needs to improve.
BOUDOT OAKS MAGIC SETS UP BLUE
⭕ 2.40 Haydock (Lancashire Oaks) Daughters of French Derby winner, Lopez De Vega, could fight this out.
Both are trained by Ralph Beckett, who has three of the six runners, so ‘doing an Aidan O’Brien’ and rendering the race a guessing game.
⭕ 2.55 Chantilly, Prix De Diane (French Oaks) I’m split between two strong Fortune Cookies again: Jessica Harrington’s Alpine Star, who ran away with the Coronation Stakes at Ascot, and Raabihah.
Raabihah won her trial in May but the runner-up was well beaten by Ebaiyra in the Royaumont (1m 4f).
Ebaiyra had earlier run second to Solsticia, so it looks as if the French fillies’ form is all of a heap.
That brings me to my outsider: Fancy Blue ran second to Peaceful in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, and has her chance of revenge here over another quarter mile.
Donnacha O’Brien has booked Pierre-Charles Boudot for Fancy Blue. I’m such a fan of the French jockey and so rated her performance at The Curragh that I’ll back her each way now.
ORDER IN: 1️⃣ Alpine Star, 2️⃣ Fancy Blue (BETDAQ 10.0), 3️⃣ Raabihah.
DEJA VUE? NO, SAYS HARRY BENTLEY
⭕ 3.00 Sandown (Coral Challenge) A three-year-old has won this twice in the decade, and Hugo Palmer has Acquitted (BETDAQ 9.0) receiving up to 23lb here.
An excellent second to subsequent St James’s Palace winner, Palace Pier, though the jury is out on his own run at Royal Ascot, last over another quarter mile. I think he’ll be acquitted today.
⭕ 3.15 Haydock (Old Newton Cup) Mark Johnston has won this three times in seven seasons, and has The Trader in form again, though it’s a long time since he could put back-to-back wins together.
The kinky Laafy wins when he’s forgotten what’s going to happen: twice first time out and once in first-time visors. But he does go on the soft. Deja and Le Don De Vie, too.
Deja was second to Scarlet Dragon with Le Don De Vie fourth in the Duke Of Edinburgh on one of the wet days at Royal Ascot.
Negatives for Le Don De Vie are the trip and his trainer’s form (1-18), and Scarlet Dragon wins only isolated races.
I thought Andrea Atzeni sent Deja (BETDAQ 9.0) to the front too soon at Ascot. Let’s see if Harry Bentley can do better. Otherwise it might be deja view!
BETDAQ 7.7 ENABLES BET ON JAPAN
⭕ 3.35 Sandown (Coral-Eclipse) I’ll give you a good bet next time out: lay Serpentine. Sovereign did a similar gallop-them-into-the-ground act in the 2019 Irish Derby. Never won again. Had galloped himself into the ground!
Anthony Van Dyck also broke his engine winning the Epsom Derby: seven-time loser since. Now maybe Magic Wand (strike rate 1-18) can run amok.
More likely, with Enable said to need the race and John Gosden dropped down to a 17% strike rate, Japan will catch Magic Wand, who will turn out to be a pacemaker after all. But Japan was below par at Royal Ascot.
Ghaiyyath beat Anthony Van Dyck at Newmarket but there’s not much kudos in doing that these days, and in 2018, 19 and 20, he’s won fresh but beaten twice without a break.
Regal Reality has been beaten by both Enable and Japan and, though Sir Michael Stoute has a big reputation for improving older horses, the handicapper has dropped him in the ratings.
Deirdre won last year’s Nassau but it was a lucky break, and Japan looks huge at 7.7 in the BETDAQ orange as the alternative to my Fortune Cookie, Enable.
DAQMAN’S BETS
It’s the final Fortune Cookies day as usual on Eclipse day and we now gear them up for British Champions Day. They are out of profit, but redemption day today? Alternatives are listed below them in the usual style:
FORTUNE COOKIES (each 20pts win)
2.10 Chantilly
VICTOR LUDORUM
OCEAN ATLANTIQUE
2.55 Chantilly
ALPINE STAR (nap)
RAABIBAH
3.35 Sandown
ENABLE
DAILY BETS (with target stakes)
2.55 Chantilly (win 20)
BET 2pts win FANCY BLUE
3.00 Sandown (win 20)
BET 2.5pts win ACQUITTED
3.15 Haydock (win 20)
BET 2.5pts win DEJA
3.35 Sandown (win 20)
BET 3pts win JAPAN
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