TWO MORE STARS FOR DAQMAN: Daqman landed the first two to score at Goodwood on Saturday to take his total to seven winners at the festival (30% strike rate on selected races).
Goodwood Saturday:
WON 10-3 ALIGN THE STARS
WON 3-1 AL AASY
Goodwood Friday:
WON 13-8 BIG EVS (Fortune Cookie)
Goodwood Thursday
WON 4-5 JAN BRUEGHEL (supernap)
WON 9-4 OPERA SINGER
Goodwood Tuesday
WON 7-1 TAKE HEART (16.5 taken on BETDAQ)
WON 8-13 KYPRIOS (supernap)
SUNDAY SERVICE: Daqman spreads his Sunday bets around Deauville, Chester and Haydock. He takes a detailed look at the Group 1 feature [ the Prix Maurice De Gheest in France.
MAKE MINE MILL STREAM
⭕ 3.07 Deauville (Prix Maurice De Gheest, winner £189k) The Group-1 scene continues from Goodwood and goes straight across the Channel from gin-and-tonic country to Calvados.
English trainers have won this six times in 10 seasons, with the older horses winning the battle with three-year-olds 7-3 in that time, favourites losing 8-2.
Charles Hills, who landed one of the favourites, Muhaarar (2015), in this extended sprint (6.5f), has booked James Doyle for Khaadem, coming out of the one stall.
The last four winners have been drawn 1, 3, 4, 3 and, with gates 3 and 4 housing rank outsiders, the stats focus seems to be on Khaadem and, in the adjacent stall 2, Puchkine.
‘Good’ ground here is rarely as ‘good’ as the English translation of (sometimes heavily) ‘watered ground’ they usually race on in France. It’s essential to check out earlier race-times.
Puchkine won the Jean Prat (7f) on Deauville ‘good to soft’ in early July, ridden out to beat the grey Havana Cigar, who has never managed a win in the Pattern, though always a threat.
In June on good ground at Longchamp, Havana Cigar was just held (a short neck) by the unbeaten Lazzat.
All this collateral form suggests that there’s not much separating the French, apart from the draw, if it works out.
The improver could be Flora Of Bermuda (Andrew Balding), who won the Group-3 Summer Stakes under P J Macdonald at York in July but is now reunited with Oisin Murphy.
Back to Khaadem, who beat Mill Stream in the Jubilee at Royal Ascot in June, but has to have a sound surface and is eight years old now.
Mill Stream (gate 8 today) won the July Cup recently, with William Buick commenting: ‘The bit of rain we had suited him literally down to the ground!’ And at least his draw today is in single figures.
AIRSPEED TO BLAST OFF
⭕ 4.15 Haydock the Lancashire course has been designated a ‘Premier Raceday’ today but I must be missing something – it looks more like a Championship card to me and a bottom of the table one at that.
My best bet comes in the second race where the Karl Burke trained Airspeed can build on his Hamilton win of last month when he was sent off an odds on shot and comfortably landed the odds by making all of the running.
The form looks solid enough in the context of this race and Airspeed can halt the progress of the hat-trick seeking Educating Rita who won at a lower level last time out and also his stablemate Qaseem who ran well at Chester and could easily make it a 1-2 for the trainer.
SEASIDE TIME
⭕ 5.05 Chester Sea Grey might be up for the course hat-trick after narrow wins over 2m and 1m 6f.
The grey is down in trip again but I don’t see that as a negative. The handicapper hasn’t been too mean either by only pushing him up 2lb – quite rightly given the margin of his victories.
He is preferred to the James Fanshawe trained Cambria Legend who has been a beaten favourite in his last two starts and was particularly disappointing at Doncaster last time out.
SUNNY SIDE UP
⭕ 5.15 Haydock A class 3 handicap which looks the most competitive race on the card judged by the early Betdaq Betting Exchange market which was struggling to find a favourite.
Mereside Diva bids to keep the race in the north for David & Nicola Barron and she will have her supporters after a narrow win at Thirsk last time out.
A 5lb hike though for her half length win looks punitive and the stable also aren’t in the best of form currently with one winner from their last 18 runners.
I think it will go to a southern raider and Sunfall could be the one for William Haggas and Tom Marquand.
A winner of two of her five starts this year, she has also proved herself at this level and better with solid placed efforts at Chester (3rd, class 2) and a close up third to Circe in a class 3 at Newbury last time out where she just struggled with the mile so the step back to seven furlongs today looks a big positive – the same distance that both her 2024 wins have come over.
Circe gave the Newbury form a timely boost with a creditable fourth at Glorious Goodwood last week and Sunfall looks a little over-priced here so I am will step in for a WIN 20 return.
DAQMAN’S BETS
3.07 Deauville (to win 20)
BET 6pts win MILL STREAM
BET 1.5pts win FLORA OF BERMUDA
4.15 Haydock (win 10, nap)
7.7pts win AIRSPEED
5.05 Chester (win 10)
BET 2.9pts win SEA GREY
5.15 Haydock (win 20)
BET 4.0pts win SUNFALL
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