DAQMAN’S 180-POINT LOCKINGE HIT WITH 52-1 ONE-TWO: When Daqman launched his Fortune Cookies, he named Mustashry specifically for the Lockinge. Then yesterday he was delighted to dive in on amazing BETDAQ value about Laurens in the same Group 1. Result? He needn’t have worried: two value offers and they had the race between them, finishing first and second! He now goes 22-11 clear of Pricewise of the Racing Post.
WON 9-1 MUSTASHRY (20-point Fortune Cookie for 180 points profit)
2ND 5-1 LAURENS (53.82 Ladbrokes straight forecast in the Lockinge)
NOW IT’S AN INCREDIBLE EIGHT SUPERNAPS UP IN A ROW: The huge Lockinge value overshadowed another winner to remember, Crystal Ocean giving Daqman EIGHT supernaps in a row. Like Fortune Cookies, supernaps are all settled as 20-point win bets at SP but, as in four cases below, the winners traded better than evens on BETDAQ.
WON 2-9 CRYSTAL OCEAN
WON 4-5 STRADIVARIUS (Yorkshire Cup)
WON 1-3 LAH TI DAR (Middleton Stakes, York)
WON 10-11 CAPE VICTORY
WON 1-2 PERSIAN KING (French 2,000 Guineas)
WON 2-5 BROOME (Leopardstown Derby Trial)
WON 2-1 ANTHONY VAN DYCK (Lingfield Derby Trial)
WON 5-4 CIRCUS MAXIMUS (Dee Stakes)
SURE TO BE BIG PRICES FOR A START (IF THEY DO START!): Daqman will be updating his Fortune Cookies next week. But, meanwhile, he has a Sunday smile about the winners that got away, a truly horrendous succession of wasted bets because all missed the start!. He calls them his Misfortune Cookies, and he’s going to follow them ‘just in case,’ but not – he hastens to add – with 20-point level stakes!
NOW MEET THE ‘MISFORTUNE’ COOKIES
I’m not being a conspiracy theorist. These things happen, and I had a good Saturday, thankyou for asking. But, coincidentally with a message from my reader, I had a sequence of tips slowly away, one after another this week, like never before.
I try not to make excuses. If I did, I would also have to admit the times when my winner was the lucky one and excuses were due to other runners in that race.
But, as this week’s sequence of slow-aways built up, I was literally yelling at the computer screen as I watched: GIVE ME A BREAK!
That was simultaneous with my reader’s message about his own experience: ‘I usually dismiss slow starters, he says, but I follow those for whom the occasion was a rare one, and I always land a big winner from among them later on.
‘I argue that, if I spent time on the race and picked the unlucky loser, I must have enough confidence to back him again when, hopefully, he starts out with the others and is a better price than he should be!’
Ok; you’re on! Let’s see what happens to my five Misfortune Cookies: Here’s how they blew my money at the start (I’m not making it up; some of the story appears in an earlier column and, of course, all were tipped on this page):
YAFTA (York, May 15) 7-2 jt favourite, 3rd of 10. ‘Dwelt and pushed along’.
TOMMY TAYLOR (York, May 16) 9-1, 18th of 21. ‘Rear start far side.’
BLESS HIM (York, May 16) 12-1, 7th of 14.’Dwelt and held up in rear.’
ALBADR (Newmarket, May 16) 5-1, 4th of 10. ‘Slowly into stride.’
HABUB (Newbury, May 17) 7-2 favourite, 7th of nine. ‘Awkwardly away.’
PISTOLETTO POINTS AT ROYAL ASCOT
2.05 Naas (Gustav Klimt Race) Gustav Klimt would be only five, if he were still running, and he won only three of 13 races. But naming a race after him is another way of advertising the skills that this son of Galileo is busy acquiring at the Coolmore Stud! At least, that’s the hopeful view.
The race should be a procession for Aidan O’Brien’s War Front colt Pistoletto en route to the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot.
2.40 Naas A low draw is a useful asset (six out of eight winners came from stalls 1 to 4). It might hand the prize to King’s Field (from the one stall), who has climbed 19lb since the autumn, mainly on AW. I took 5.2 on BETDAQ early mouse.
3.15 Naas (Sole Power Sprint) Gossamer Wings should be ready to fly after a quiet lift-off at Cork nine days ago. Queen Mary runner-up and Flying Childers third. But she and her likely market rival Beckford are both drawn high.
Final Venture hasn’t won for almost two years, and I fancy Soffia (BETDAQ 5.8) might be good enough from a nice draw and with two runs under her belt.
4.25 Naas Aidan O’Brien has won this three times in five seasons, and So Perfect looks 9lb-10lb ahead of these under the terms and conditions of the race. Placed in the Phoenix and the Cheveley Park as a juvenile.
4.20 Ripon (Wilmot-Smith Memorial) Gurkha Friend goes for a hat-trick in this off his highest mark, and will not be ridden by Silvestre De Sousa, who has won on him back to back but has taken Sunday off.
Give It Some Teddy (BETDAQ 10.5) looks capable of continued improvement after a hiccup because of soft ground at Nottingham. He won here at Ripon on his sole visit last year.
IT’S IRISH NATIONAL SAINT’S DAY..
3.25 Auteuil (Grand Steeplechase De Paris) Pricewise has dragged me back over fences. Presumably, the bookies think it’s an impossible task for ignorant punters to pick from 20 French and Irish jumpers.
The English wisely stay away, though their raider, Mandarin (1962), was the last to beat the French. Captain Christy was second for Ireland in 1975.
One reason for French supremacy is that they race their jumpers in a quagmire. By comparison an Irish bog is a croquet lawn, and betting riverside (lakeside?) at Worcester is to enjoy the sparkle of Spring dew on the meadows.
Guillaume Macaire has trained five of the last six winners, one of them So French (2016 and 2017) who is back to regain his crown. In last year’s race, won by his stablemate, On The Go, he was brought down at the first (perhaps he’s a Misfortune Cookie!)
James Reveley, who has ridden the last three winners, all for Macaire, has today chosen Le Costaud over So French, on whom he won back to back.
The choice of Willie Mullins’ raiders is seemingly Irish Grand National winner Burrows Saint if Paul Townend is right but Willie also saddles Liverpool Grand National third, Rathvinden (Rachael Blackmore), Total Recall (Danny Mullins), Acapella Bourgeois (J J Burke) and Pricewise pick, Pleasant Company (Robbie Power). With £332,432 to the winner, who can blame Willie for having a Sunday outing.
The stats say that young horses of five and six dominate and I shall have my euros on Burrows Saint and the featherweighted 25-1 shot Eludy, who has won in Graded company ankle deep at Auteuil and whose dam is a full sister to Gavin Cromwell’s Welsh National winner, Raz De Maree.
Daqman’s Verdict: 1 Burrows Saint, 2 Le Costaud, 3 Eludy
DAQMAN’S BETS
2.05 Naas (supernap)
BET 20pts win PISTOLETTO
2.40 Naas (win 20)
BET 5pts win KING’S FIELD
3.15 Naas (win 20)
BET 4pts win SOFFIA
4.20 Ripon (win 20)
BET 2pts win and place GIVE IT SOME TEDDY
4.25 Naas (win 10)
BET 10pts win SO PERFECT
3.25 Auteuil (win 50, win 30, win 30)
BULL’S-EYE BET 2pts win and place ELUDY
BET 5pts win BURROWS SAINT
BET 2.5pts win LE COSTAUD
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