7-1 DAQMAN WIN WAS 9.2 ON BETDAQ: A 7-1 winner at Ascot, taken at 9.2 on BETDAQ, rescued Daqman from the mud and the rain yesterday: Fontaine Collonges completed a 77-1 treble for Venetia Williams in 40 minutes. She won the big chase at Haydock with Royal Pagaille, like Fontaine Collonges ridden by Charlie Deutsch.
DEUCE TAKES THE £2.8m JAPAN POT: King George winner Goliath was only sixth and Auguste Rodin eighth, as local-hero Do Deuce established himself as world’s best in coming from last to first as favourite to win the £2.8m Japan Cup in Tokyo by a neck this morning under 55-year-old Yutaka Take, his fifth winner of the race.
WEATHER UPDATE: Exeter passed an inspection for today’s meeting but high winds stopped racing because of safety hazards. Uttoxeter goes ahead in England and, while Cork is lost in Ireland, the big meeting continues at Punchestown, where Brighterdaysahead won the Morgiana Hurdle yesterday.
FASTORSLOW GALOPIN HOME
⭕ 2.25 Punchestown (John Durkan Memorial Chase) State Man is beaten in the Morgiana Hurdle and Capodanno flops in the big chase at Haydock.
Apart from those two, and an 11-2 on scorer in a beginners’ chase at Punchestown, Willie Mullins’ runners were beaten a total of 121 lengths in five races there yesterday.
Gordon Elliott (3) and Henry De Bromhead (2) shared five races on the rest of the Punchestown card.
And for Willie to lose the John Durkan today after winning it seven times in the last nine years would be a Galopin weekend nightmare.
His 2022 winner could finish only third last year to Fastorslow, who comfortably beat Galopin Des Champs again in the Punchestown Gold Cup in May, yet the Mullins animal won the Irish Gold Cup and Cheltenham ‘gold’ in between.
It reminds me how Djakadam won the John Durkan back to back but Don Cossack (2016) and Sizing John (2017) won the Cheltenham Gold Cup over the extra mile.
I now see Galopin Des Champs, who was also beaten by Fastorslow in the Irish Gold Cup, as the stayer among them.
Fastorslow has another problem today: he has to beat the year-younger Fact To File, who is bred for this race and no further.
Fact To File is also trained by Mullins but, like Grey Dawning yesterday, his experience is at novice level and he’s 9lb and 17lb behind Fastorslow and Galopin des Champs at this stage.
On the official ratings, and on a line through Montys Star, Spillane’s Tower has plenty to find with Fact Or File, and Inothewayurthinkin is a handicapper.
COIN IS MINTED FOR CHASING
⭕ 1.25 Uttoxeter With Exeter abandoned for safety concerns in the strong wind, this 3m chase takes on better than a class 3 look about it, despite just five runners.
Roccovango has twice the chasing experience of his main rivals, and it should have been 2-2 but, after scoring at Worcester on his debut over fences, Sean Bowen’s mount failed by a nose to get up at Warwick, after jumping right and losing his position
The winner failed twice at Cheltenham afterwards and both winner and second have had their ratings reduced.
Shanagh Bob is a Point scorer who won an Albert Bartlett trial last December, so I was surprised to see him relaunched as a chase today after connections declared him on track for the festival.
Bred for chasing – no doubt about it this time – by Flemensfirth out of a Presenting mare – Paul Nicholls’ Toss Of A Coin is brother to Highland Lodge, who won his first two chases in a 5-7 sequence of success.
FREDDIE ON THE RADAR AGAIN
⭕ 2.00 Uttoxeter Paul Nicholls and Freddie Gingell are on the radar for a double, following on Toss Of A Coin.
Below The Radar he is not, with a profile that means he will surely start favourite on Betdaq Betting Exchange against horses out of form.
Icare Allen has not won since February 2022; North Parade is nine now and still a few pounds high in the handicap; Bill Baxter failed to finish the last twice and Curley Finger is likely to need to slide further down the ratings after a hat-trick at the start of the year.
Below The Radar is pitched in a pound lower than Curley Finger and with Freddie Gingell’s claim to help. Regarded as tough with stamina in the blood, so this step up looks right on cue.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.25 Uttoxeter (win 25)
BET 10pts win TOSS OF A COIN
2.00 Uttoxeter (supernap)
BET 20pts win BELOW THE RADAR
2.25 Punchestown (win 22)
BET 10pts win FASTORSLOW
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