DAQMAN AND THE GIRLS WIN BIG: Daqman fancied The Girls to take the Shergar Cup at Ascot yesterday. Sure enough, they won the competition and Sammy Jo Bell the Silver Saddle, Daqman making more than 20 points profit thanks to two winners of his own:
WON 6-1 SHELL BAY
WON 5-1 SECRETINTHEPARK
NAP IS NOT TO BE WRITTEN OFF: Went the day well! Sadly not to Daqman’s liking when his Godolphin nap, Bint Al Reem, failed to run a race, last to finish, eased down behind Blue Bayou at Newmarket. ‘Something was wrong; not to be written off,’ says our man.
SUPERSTAR YANKEE ROUND EUROPE: Daqman travels round Europe today for a big race yankee of star-name horses at the Curragh in Ireland, Deauville in France and Hoppegarten, Germany.
I’VE FALLEN FOR CLIFFS IN THE PHOENIX
2.20 The Curragh A large balloon went up in this last year and stuck in the Classic sky until the following Spring, name of John F Kennedy, whose reputation crashed this term like the proverbial lead variety, finishing last in both outings.
It’s déjà vu time as Ballydoyle brings out two more contenders to fill the bookies’ Classic satchels in the long impatient winter for Flat-racing fans.
Both Beacon Rock and Cole Porter are by Galileo – surprise, surprise – with Beacon Rock the more interesting, related on the dam’s side to Oaks fillies and to Dylan Thomas.
Also eye-catching on breeding are the Sea The Stars duo Sea Of Mystery (John Oxx) and Stellar Mass (Jim Bolger) but more so Mutadaffeq (Kevin Prendergast), by New Approach out of a half-sister to an Irish 1,000 Guineas winner and a Kentucky Derby winner.
3.50 The Curragh (Phoenix Stakes) Can that opening colts’ maiden outshine the Group-1 Phoenix in the two-year-old and three-year-old Classics to come?
The most recent star in the Phoenix firmament, Zoffany, had the misfortune to be of the same generation as Frankel, but went down to that one less than a length at Royal Ascot.
Before that, Mastercraftsman had the same misfortune. The buffers he ran up against in the Newmarket Guineas, the International Stakes and the Irish Champion Stakes were provided by Sea The Stars.
Aidan O’Brien’s Phoenix form is 1121112131. One he managed to get beat in this was Henrythenavigator (the ground was heavy, so it was) and not many knew that day they were watching the Newmarket and Curragh Guineas winner.
Zoffany is represented by Washington Dc today, one of three Ballydoyle runners alongside Air Force Blue, by War Front and Canford Cliffs’ son Painted Cliffs.
Benchmark for today’s race is Rockaway Valley, a neck behind Air Force Blue in May before that one was two lengths off Buratino in the Coventry Stakes.
But the vagaries of two-year-old form are revealed by Painted Cliffs’ Railway Stakes success – today’s CD in June – over Rockaway Valley. He’d been (slow away) more than 18 lengths behind Air Force Blue and Rockaway Valley in that May race.
One or two lines to form – including Log Out Island – suggest that the Railway Stakes is in front of the Coventry. The two winners to come out of the front nine at Ascot took only minor events, and the third, fourth and eighth have all been beaten.
A horse called Nelspruit was further behind Washington Dc in the Windsor Castle at Ascot than he was behind Buratino at Epsom.
Several good – and bad – judges see Rockaway Valley turning around the Railway Stakes form but I thought Painted Cliffs (huge at 7.2 on BETDAQ this morning) won like a good horse, and I’m not put off by the Ballydoyle jockey bookings.
I don’t like to see a Classic pretender in blinkers but it’s a fad of Aidan O’Brien’s to straighten them out in the blinds, and it seems to work.
SPRINT PUNTERS SHOULD PLAY ANTHEM
4.20 The Curragh (Phoenix Sprint) Winners of this come from good runs at the top of the sprint tree, in the July Cup, Wokingham and Golden Jubilee.
The immediate suspect is Anthem Alexander, third to Muhaarar in the new Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and then sixth to the same horse in the July Cup. This is a drop in class.
Mattmu has won and been second twice in Group races but his best form has been on the soft and the forecast ‘showers’ would have to persist for him to have a major chance.
ESOTERIQUE THE THREAT TO MUHAARAR
3.10 Deauville (Prix Maurice de Gheest) Freddy’s stayed at home! That’s the sigh of relief from the British raiders, with no Freddy Head to face today, after his domination of this race in the decade.
His six wins in nine years were with just two horses, Marchand d’Or and one of my favourites of all time, the magical Moonlight Cloud.
Surrounding them, success for Richard Hannon, Aidan O’Brien, John Gosden, Tim Easterby, David Nicholls and Richard Fahey, so England and Ireland 6, Freddy 6, had not Robert Collet intervened in 2005.
Only one winner over the age of five since 1991, which potentially weeds out three of the field, with Gordon Lord Byron unable to score in Europe for nearly two years now and Wokingham runner-up Robert Le Diable on a devilish bridesmaid run of 2222.
I doubt it’s soft enough for ‘Robert’ or for Gammarth, and Noozhoh Canarias (form figures 3333) also seems to have a bridesmaid complex.
That leaves the French defence to Esoterique, dropping back from a mile plus, after running up to the superb Solow in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot and a Group-1 winner on today’s course.
But, as I said earlier in the week, having learned again to my cost, the three-year-olds are dominant this year.
And it will be a big surprise if Newmarket and The Curragh Guineas placed Ivawood and the Commonwealth and July Cups winner Muhaarar are both beaten.
I’ve followed the rise and rise of Muhaarar since he started his season by winning the Greenham, and I think he’s big value for his 121 rating.
Esoterique comes out at around 120, giving only a couple of pounds to the Charles Hills’ three-year-old, if his Queen Anne run is judged on the distance Solow beat him by.
However, it’s not what beats you but what you beat that counts, so judging Ivawood on his close proximity to Gleneagles (twice) can be misleading and, don’t forget, he was trounced by Muhaarar in the Greenham.
Who’s the improver? Muhaarar, of course. But Esoterique is no back number, and will be suited by the ground, and might just have found his best trip.
STEP FORWARD BUT BEWARE OF NUTAN
3.30 Hoppegarten (Grosser Preis Von Berlin) I’m a donut (Berliner) if I can’t guess this winner in two. Second Step and Nutan look well clear of the field.
Peter Schiergen, who took Danedream from success in this to capture the Arc, won the German Derby with Irish-bred Nutan under today’s pilot Andrasch Starke (‘It was easy; I could have made the running and he’d still have pulled away.’)
Second Step, only a handicapper last season, took a big step forward by beating Telescope in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket in the Spring.
And he took a second upward step when proving Newmarket was no fluke, going down to subsequent Goodwood Cup winner Big Orange half a length in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at the July Meeting, giving 3lb to the winner.
As the son of an Arc winner having only his ninth ever race today, all eyes will be the Luca Cumani colt, ridden Jamie Spencer, who was in form with a double in yesterday’s Shergar Cup at Ascot.
Yet more lightly raced is Ito (four starts, four wins) but he beat only Listed winners in his Group 2 at Baden-Baden. I’m sold on the three-year-olds but Nutan over Second Step is a painful choice.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 points, except the banker settled at SP)
BANKER: BET 20pts win (nap) MUHAARAR (3.10 Deauville)
BET 10pts win NUTAN (3.35 Hoppegarten)
DOUBLE WHAMMY: LAY 5pts BURATINO and BET 3.2pts win PAINTED CLIFFS (3.50 The Curragh)
BET 8pts win ANTHEM ALEXANDER (4.20 The Curragh)
NEW !!!
You can now follow BETDAQ updates on Google+
For further details – CLICK HERE
£20 FREE BET
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
