27.0 DAQMAN OUTSIDER BEATEN A NECK IN THE NOVEMBER CUP: Daqman was within a neck of a 50-point hit on the first day of his bull’s-eye bets for the Jumps season when 20-1 shot Bretan d’As was just beaten in the November Gold Cup at Cheltenham, with the first two eight lengths clear in a 17-strong field. Big-odds near misses were the story of his Saturday:
WON (2nd 20-1) win and place BRELAN D’AS 27.0 BETDAQ
WON (3rd 12-1) win and place SHANWALLA 15.5 BETDAQ
(2nd 10-1 EMINENT POET win only)
WON 11-8 THYME HILL and WON 1-4 GOOD BOY BOBBY
ACCOUNTS UPDATE
Daqman 2, Pricewise 0 (+14.00 to -50.00 to 10pt stakes)
Bull’s-eye bets + 5.85 (1-1) to recommended stakes
Bulls-eye naps 2019 (8-16) 256pts profit
Naps this week (2-5) – 8.94 to 10pt stakes
Supernaps (0-1) -20.00 to 20-point level stakes
DAY TWO: STRAIGHT INTO MORE BIG ODDS FOR WIN-50 HITS: Daqman has 17.0 and 13.5 punts in the opener at Cheltenham today, relies on the top yards in the Greatwood and supernaps his favourite novice to beat older horses at Punchestown. Headlines:
🔹 BET DIESEL TO TANK IN THE MUD
🔹 TRUMP THE ACE IN ARKLE TRIAL
🔹 POLITOLOGUE BEST WHEN FRESH
🔹 THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A DAME
BET DIESEL TO TANK IN THE MUD
1.15 Cheltenham (Cross Country) Rolling Dylan can be a bit of a monkey but he gallops and stays – and loves soft ground – so the banks discipline on a day that suits could be a mind-changer.
In-form Philip Hobbs is hoping for a replacement for Lacdoudal and Balthazar King who both won this race for him. I took 13.5 on BETDAQ.
Kingswell Theatre could bounce back to the form of his winning this race two years ago, but Tea For Two must stir up sparks from the embers of even older days of glory.
Urgent De Gregaine, third to Kingwell Theatre in this, has been second and third to Tiger Roll at the festival in the last two seasons and would normally be the safety bet.
But his 11st 12lb could be a stopper in the deep ground, with yesterday’s chases drainingly slow, at 27, 39 and 41 seconds above average time.
You need plenty of petrol in the tank, so I’m risking an interest in his stablemate, Diesel D’Allier (17.0 on BETDAQ), lightly weighted for one who has won three cross-countrys and loves the mud.
TRUMP THE ACE IN ARKLE TRIAL
1.50 Cheltenham (Arkle Trophy Trial) It’s round two of the battle won by Al Dancer with Getaway Trump only third over the Cheltenham CD three weeks or so back.
It was an almost-six lengths easy task for the Dancer that day but at least four circumstances are different this afternoon.
Getaway Trump was needing the run then – as with some others of the Ditcheat team – and is 3lb better off. The going then was good to soft; but yesterday at Cheltenham was bog deep, with races run up to two-thirds of a minute slow.
Additionally, Al Dancer’s hood is left off this time, which was one of the excuses given for his flopping at the Cheltenham Festival.
The other two runners need to find up to a stone, according to the ratings, but both are progressive and Harry Whittington (Rouge Vif) has just landed a hat-trick, still standing.
As winner of a four-timer at around 2m 4f, Irish raider Put The Kettle On should have plenty of steam left after a gruelling 2m today. But Getaway Trump was impressive on heavy as a hurdler.
POLITOLOGUE BEST WHEN FRESH
2.25 Cheltenham Chase Another who needs further but could be ridden for stamina in a two-mile test is Defi Du Seuil, who twice defeated Lostintranslation last season.
And another Harry Whittington runner, the mud-loving Saint Calvados, comes to this in better shape now (and after a double wind-op) than when behind Politologue last Spring.
But Politologue has won first time back in each of the last three campaigns, has no problems with the ground and, as Champion Chase runner-up, could be too smart for this field.
2.40 Fontwell (Southern National) The Durham National one-two of a month ago, The Caller and Chasma, are brought together here, with a tweak in the weights.
But the one-stone gap between Chasma and Captain Cattistock is not enough, if the official handicapper has got it right.
The Two Amigos ran away with the Sussex National in January but the stable form (no winner for 11 weeks) suggests that he might run out of puff.
2.50 Punchestown (Florida Pearl Novice Chase) Davy Russell is forever controversial but there’s no battle as to who is doyen of the weighing-room.
He’s back in the Gigginstown hot-seat here with circumstances in his favour for victory on my number-one Fortune Cookie potential.
Battleoverdoyen comes to his first real test with an exhibition round under his belt from Galway, and is taking on an out-of-sorts Any Second Now and an ex Patriot stepping up in trip.
THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A DAME
3.00 Cheltenham (Greatwood Hurdle) The stats tell you to stick with horses aged four and five (they’re 8-9 in the decade against the older brigade), and the soggy terrain is against a weight-carrying performance.
The ground has put me off my preview horse, Zanza, but it greatly favours Imperial Cup winner, Monsieur Lecoq, who came to Cheltenham too soon afterwards in the County Hurdle.
However, a 23lb higher mark looks halting. He’s no crock Monsieur, but I can’t see him having these for breakfast off his current mark, and I prefer to wait for a conditions race.
Quel Destin scored over CD last month in heavy. That race has never been a pointer to this, though Paul Nicholls has won the Greatwood twice with four-year-olds in the last eight seasons.
In fact, one guideline to today’s race is the one Bennys Bridge won the following day but he’s up 10lb for it.
Dame De Compagnie can be expected to go well after a break (form figures fresh are 12121), coming from the Nicky Henderson yard, though this is not Nicky’s race, according to the records.
Humble Hero is untested on soft and has to improve his jumping, and that is the question mark over Torcello who has landed a recent hat-trick in the mud on the Flat.
It’s hard to envisage both Nicholls and Henderson getting it wrong here, so I took 8.2 Dame De Compagnie and 7.6 Quel Destin.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.15 Cheltenham (bull’s-eye bets to win 50, place win 10)
BET 4pts win and place ROLLING DYLAN
BET 3pts win and place DIESEL D’ALLIER
1.50 Cheltenham (win 10)
BET 6.5pts win GETAWAY TRUMP
2.25 Cheltenham (win 10)
BET 6pts win POLITOLOGUE
2.40 Fontwell (win 20)
BET 7pts win CAPTAIN CATTISTOCK
2.50 Punchestown (supernap)
BET 20pts win BATTLEOVERDOYEN
3.00 Cheltenham (win 30)
BET 4.5pts win QUEL DESTIN
BET 4pts win DAME DE COMPAGNIE
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