FOUR SATURDAY HITS IN WEEK OF 10 WINS: Just one Saturday hit would have given Daqman an unbeaten week of daily wins but he landed FOUR, including another strike for Dark Trooper, who had been his Sunday nap at 7-1.
✔️ WON 11-2 KATHAB from BETDAQ 8.2
✔️ WON 11-2 SCAMPI
✔️ WON 7-2 DARK TROOPER
✔️ WON 10-3 PEROTTO
★ 50% STRIKE RATE: The last three winners gave him a 50% score, three wins from six races, in the Shergar Cup for a profit of 8.33 to one-point stakes.
★ Daqman 43, Pricewise 21
TODAY: Daqman merges his wrap on yesterday’s Group-1 2yo race at the Curragh with a Group-3 juvenile heat at Deauville, which could turn up another major player.
WHY EVADE COULD BE A STAR PLAYER
⭕ 12.58 Deauville, soft (Group-3 2yo, 7f): Charlie Appleby went into this race last year with a long-odds-on favourite, Mysterious Night, and took his winner on to score at Woodbine.
Two years earlier Charley Rossi had saddled Tiger Tanaka to take this and follow up in the prestigious Marcel Boussac juvenile fillies’ criterium at the Arc meeting.
Both Mysterious Night and Tiger Tanaka beat just four others so, even if we can’t pick the winner, we should not sniff at the small field but watch today’s renewal for future reference.
Yesterday’s Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh just showed how tricky it is to follow the two-year-olds, and find a rising star.
I got it right to oppose the favourite, Unquestionable, and I got it right that Porta Fortuna could deal with some, if not all, of the colts and was worth a punt; she certainly outshone her rating.
But what usually happens is that something in a closely-knit pack of colts takes a huge step forward. And it sure did yesterday, in the shape of Bucanero Fuerte, scintillating winner by four lengths.
There was even dancing ‘on telly’ at Ascot – at least by Megan Nicholls – for Westmeath trainer Adrian Murray’s Group-1 breakthrough, the connection being a superb ride by her partner, Kevin Stott
The five-lengths-plus defeat in the race by Unquestionable was a hiatus in the winning sequence of 17 for Aidan O’Brien in the Phoenix Stakes.
How should we now see stablemate River Tiber’s chance in the Prix Morny next weekend? I can’t see him being odds on after this.
Only last month, Bucanero Fuerte had beaten Unquestionable a short-head in the Railway Stakes, with Mythology more than six-lengths fourth.
Mythology (Joseph O’Brien) can give us something with which to measure and move our ideas along when he takes on Majestic One, Charlie Appleby’s new Mysterious Night in today’s Deauville race.
Standing in the way is Andre Fabre’s Evade, like Bucanero Fuerte, a son of Wootton Bassett, whose rise to fame at stud came with the Champion Stakes double in England and Ireland in the autumn of 2016 by his French-trained son, Almanzor.
With Evade owned by Qatar Racing, the plum ride today goes to Oisin Murphy who, try as he might on Porta Fortuna, just couldn’t close the gap yesterday on Bucanero Fuerte.
HAGGAS A CRACK AT PLACING HORSES
⭕ 1.33 Deauville I still have nightmares, reliving the jockey blockade that fenced in Blue Rose Cen in the Nassau Stakes.
For her rider, Aurelien Lemaitre, the season will be packed with bitter reminders until he can lay the ghost by restoring the filly’s winning sequence.
Like today for instance. He was beaten a short-neck on Yorokobi at Chantilly in May by the Australia filly, Tasmania.
Tasmania was third of 15 in the French Oaks behind Blue Rose Cen and is likely to have the measure of M Lemaitre on Engaliwe, a Listed-only winner.
But it could all add up to clever placing – as ever – by William Haggas. He sends over Crack Of Light, another Listed winner who was a beaten odds-on favourite at Longchamp last month, with none other than Yorokobi three lengths further back.
NOW BIG ROCK CAN MAKE AN IMPACT
⭕ 3.26 Deauville (Prix Jacques le Marois, 1m) Team Gosden and Frankie Dettori go for a four-timer in this. After back-to-back wins by their Palace Pier, Inspiral tries to do the same and follow up her victory of a year ago.
It was a tight finish that day, with Inspiral getting allowances as a three-year-old filly and beating Light Infantry a neck with Erevan a further neck away third, the placed horses both giving her 4lb.
Her best form since was when, receiving 3lb, she was in another thrilling neck finish, pipped by Triple Time. Light Infantry was now a well-beaten third after trying to make all.
Three-year-olds, who are 6-4 up in this race in the decade, are represented today by Big Rock and Marhaba Ya Sanafi, second and third in the French Derby to a very dominant Ace Impact, who is only around 4-1 for the Arc de Triomphe.
In fact, it was a winners’ race with Grand Prix De Paris star, Feed The Flame, in fourth and Epictetus, a winner at Glorious Goodwood last week, in fifth.
While of the three-year-olds Big Rock and Marhaba Ya Sanafi are down in trip to this mile, Good Guess steps up a furlong from his Group-1 hands–and-heels stroll here at Deauville in the Prix Jean Prat (7f).
Daqman’s verdict If I am correct in raising Ace Impact to the ratings level of champion three-year-old so far, then Big Rock must be my choice here in a race of second-season domination.
Big Rock had won four in a row for the Blue Rose Cen team of Christopher Head and Aurelien Lemaitre, making all at around 9f each time before running out of steam over the French Derby distance (1m 2.5f), wilting under the late surge of Ace Impact.
Triple Time’s defeat of Inspiral in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot was on good ground. Erevan, only half a length third behind Inspiral in today’s race last year, won the Daniel Wildenstein in very soft ground afterwards but has always been beaten at Group-1 level.
THE IRISH TRAINER WITH BLUE EYES…
⭕ 4.50 Curragh The man with the highest strike-rate in Irish racing? Not Aidan O’Brien but Paddy Twomey (30%). The man in form on all fronts? Paddy Twomey (43%).
So, when he has a quality animal, Bella Blue Eyes, entered up in Group races but 3.7 on Betdaq Betting Exchange in her final handicap, you have to reach for your wallet.
DAQMAN’S BETS
12.58 Deauville (win 12)
BET 8pts win EVADE
1.33 Deauville (win 10)
BET 4pts win CRACK OF LIGHT
3.26 Deauville (win 12)
BET 4pts win BIG ROCK
4.50 Curragh (win 20, nap)
BET 7.5pts win BELLA BLUE EYES
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