HUGE BETDAQ VALUE WORTH THE EFFORT: Protektorat’s flying finish just failed to land Daqman a big-race gamble yesterday: 2nd at 11-2 favourite from a huge 11.0 on BETDAQ. But the 11-8 Lingfield winner Good Effort put Daqman 1-0 up on Pricewise, attempting a 17th consecutive season in front, 66 winners short of 1,000.
TODAY: Daqman tries bull’s-eye bets in the Greatwood, hoping for better big-race luck at 10.5, 12.0 and 20.0
TOMORROW: New-style Fortune Cookies spots the big winners from the kingmaker races.
OSCAR TO TAKE THE AWARD
⭕ 1.10 Cheltenham This 3m novice chase is a good guide, notably producing Thistlecrack in 2016 and four classy winners for Paul Nicholls, who today relies on Threeunderthrufive, who is targeting the Reynoldstown Chase in February.
Threeunderthrufive is currently a couple of pounds behind Does He Know in the ratings and, because lower in the weights, Oscar Elite and Streets Of Doyen move alongside menacingly. In theory, a cracker. And all bar Undersupervision are distance winners.
Does He Know was taking the measure of Undersupervision when that rival crashed into the rails here at the October meeting.
He is preferred to Threeunderthrufive, with Paul Nicholls hitting the woodwork with seven runners on the first two days of this Cheltenham meet, returning 6524363, all bar one of them between 6-4 favourite and 7-1. That’s missing strike badly.
Colin Tizzard, back to form with five winners this week, has his only runner at this Cheltenham autumn meeting, Oscar Elite.
He could be among the elite, as a son of Oscar whose whose dam is sister to Gold Cup winner, Lord Windermere.
Oscar Elite was a leading novice hurdler, second to Gavin Cromwell’s stable star Vanillier in the Albert Bartlett here at Cheltenham. He gets 8lb from Does He Know and won his first race back at this time last year.
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE 3.5 Oscar Elite
HUGHES CHAMPION CHANCE
⭕ 1.45 Cheltenham Yala Enki was pipped a short-head in this a year ago but needs a slog on soft ground (placed in three Welsh Nationals), and we would like to have seen a better Paul Nicholls performance from Threeunderthrufive if we are to consider a bet.
Enki is a veteran now, with Rocky’s Treasure close behind; they are 11 and 12 in six weeks’ time. Seven-year-olds do best in this and on good ground yesterday the chases were won by ages six (twice), seven and eight.
Go Another Go’s Cheltenham form is 3F00 but that includes such as the Kim Muir and he is suited by the better ground.
The 2019-20 champion jockey despite being Northern based, Brian Hughes will be keen to win at Cheltenham on Scottish raider Empire De Maulde, a steady improver and quite impressive this summer.
Hughes, well clear again in the table, rides against current champion Harry Skelton in the Greatwood.
BETDAQ value 3.7 Empire De Maulde
ECHOES TIPPED FOR THE TOP
⭕ 2.05 Punchestown (Morgiana Hurdle) Willie Mullins missed out by a neck on training 10 winners in a row when Gordon Elliottt stopped the sequence last year with Abacadabras. The arch–rivals do battle today with two runners each.
Sharjah, runner-up in the last two Champion Hurdles, had Abacadabras behind him when also runner-up in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle.
He won the Morgiana three years ago and, before you think he is too old, Faugheen won it at the age of nine and Hurricane Run didn’t start his hat-trick sequence until he was eight.
It’s 23 years since a four-year-old won and Zanahiyr’s Grade 2 at Down Royal came at the expense of 139 and 111 rated horses in second and third.
Champion Novice winner on today’s course, Echoes In Rain beat Belfast Banter in that one’s prep for winning the County Hurdle in March, and is tipped for the top by Willie Mullins.
She has matured since and gets 7lb from Sharjah but tends to run freely first run back, so it’s too close to call between the two Mullins stablemates, who should have the measure of the Gordon Elliottt pair.
* Galway winner Sixshooter takes on runaway Albert Bartlett star Vanillier in the Florida Pearl Novice Chase here at (12.30). Check out the Gavin Cromwell Corner
KETTLE STRAIGHT ON THE BOIL
⭕ 2.20 Cheltenham (Shloer Chase) There’s 2lb between four horses at the weights: 167 Politologue (Paul Nicholls), 166 Put The Kettle On (Henry De Bromhead), receiving 7lb mares’ allowance, and 165 each Dan Skelton’s lightly-raced Nube Negra and Rouge Vif, a second Nicholls runner who gets 6lb.
Put The Kettle On loves Cheltenham (form here 1111), and is also a career 1311214 with ‘good’ in the going return.
If they run to Champion Chase form over the Cheltenham CD, there’s very little between the one-two, separated half a length that day, Put The Kettle On and Nube Negra (stumbled last).
Strictly, if 2020 form at Warwick were followed, you’d have to back Rouge Vif: led three out from Nube Negra and won seven lengths.
But, with Paul Nicholls seemingly under a cloud, and Put The Kettle On receiving 7lb from Nube Negra, it’s full steam ahead for Aidan Coleman, who keeps the ride on Kettle. Rachael Blackmore has three rides at Punchestown.
BETDAQ value 3.0 Put The Kettle On
12.0 BETDAQ TONIC FOR KING
⭕ 2.55 Cheltenham (Greatwood Handicap Hurdle) STATS: Seven out of 10 winners were aged four or five. Only one winner in nine years carried more than 11st. Alan King has won two of the last four.
1 Tritonic Winner of top juvenile hurdles at the turn of the year at Ascot and Kempton (the Adonis by 10 lengths). Alan King’s four-year-old was said to have been sick when only fifth in the Triumph.
Four-year-olds won the Greatwood four times between 2006 and 2015, including Triumph winner Detroit City, who followed up his Greatwood a month later at the December meeting, beating Hardy Eustace in the International.
Tritonic has a big weight today but has the fitness advantage from his second here at the October meeting.
2 Advanced Virgo Charles Byrnes, who won with Blazing Khal in the Ballymore trial on the first day of the meeting this week, saddles this one after an outing on the Flat last month.
That’s exactly what Virgo he did last year before taking a Grade A at Fairyhouse in late November.
3 Bua Boy has done well, placed in big-field quality races at Galway and Listowel and has his ground.
Adagio is a Grade 1 winner and has earned his rating. Wins first time and David Pipe does well at this meeting.
Jesse Evans has won only his maiden, earning his rating as Galway Hurdle fourth but the first two were giving him plenty of weight that day.
No Ordinary Joe sauntered through his novice races in the Spring but treated his hurdles with little respect. I’d like to see him jump tis season before backing him at Cheltenham.
West Cork was a decent novice in 2019-20 but is seven now and it will be a brilliant piece of training to get him back, 631 days on.
Camprond for J P McManus and Philip Hobbs, who scored with Sporting John yesterday, and Galice Macalo were both well backed this morning.
BETDAQ value 10.5 Advanced Virgo, 12 Tritonic, 20 Bua Boy
BACK ON THE ROAD TO AINTREE
⭕ 3.10 Fontwell (Southern National) Game Line has never been out of the first three in eight starts since joining James Bowen, but local trainer Gary Moore is getting similar consistency from Gleno.
It should be a good contest between the two but I shall have a fun pound on the ‘hidden horse’ Le Breuil (BETDAQ 6.8), a winner twice after a break, and 25lb below his 2020 Grand National weight, imposed after he won the NH Chase at Cheltenham. Success here would put him on the road to Aintree 2022.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.10 Cheltenham (win 10, nap)
BET 2.5pts win OSCAR ELITE
1.45 Cheltenham (win 10)
BET 3.75pts win EMPIRE DE MAULDE
2.20 Cheltenham (win 10)
BET 5pts win PUT THE KETTLE ON
2.55 Cheltenham (win-50 bull’s-eye bets, 10 win a place)
BET 5pts win ADVANCED VIRGO
BET 5pts in TRITONIC
BET 2.5pts win and place BUA BOY
3.10 Fontwell (win 10)
BET 1.75pts win LE BREUIL
What are points? Points facilitate a staking plan, which is the secret to creating profit. One point is whatever you choose: a pound, a euro, or whatever ….
Start with a bank and decide how much you can afford to lose over a period of time, and determine the size of your bets accordingly. Daqman makes this variation every day.
