ROYAL ASCOT COUNTDOWN: Yesterday’s Daqman spotlight on the near-20-furlong Ascot Gold Cup switches today to one of the sprints at the royal meeting, the 6f Commonwealth Cup.
ROYAL ASCOT UPDATE: Desert Crown is 3.5 favourite on the BETDAQ exchange for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday week after what was described as a ‘scintillating gallop’ under Ryan Moore on the Al Bahathri at Newmarket yesterday.
TODAY: a supernap and a bull’s-eye bet!
LITTLE BEAR WITH BIG RATING
Daqman’s 2023 three-year-old colts: published November 8 as 2yo
124 LITTLE BIG BEAR WON Evens, Sandy Lane Stakes, May 27
120 CHALDEAN WON 7-2, Newmarket 2,000 Guineas, May 6
119 AUGUSTE RODIN WON 9-2, Epsom Derby, June 3
JUST look at the way the Daqman top 2022 two-year-old colts have already skimmed the cream of their second season this Spring!
And on top of my 1-2-3, over and above two Classic winners, is the mighty (sorry Little) Big Bear, who will be running at Royal Ascot.
All three were Fortune Cookies, of course; all three have won major races; and, though top of the pile, none was odds on.
Nor is Little Big Bear right now on BETDAQ with 15 days to go to the Commonwealth Cup. He’s odds against and, officially, has 7lb in hand of the best of the opposition, Noble Style.
But what to make of Shaquille, who had Noble Style three lengths back when winning a Listed at Newbury (good ground) last month? His 94 rating of that day must be upgraded.
Noble Style 6th and Sakheer 7th of the colts in the 2,000 Guineas, are joined in the £340k sprint by Lezoo, 8th of the fillies in the 1,000.
Isaac Shelby, winner of the Greenham, was beaten a short-neck in the French 2,000 by Sunday’s French Derby third, Marhaba Ya Sanafi.
Betdaq Betting Exchange (⭕ 4.20 Commonwealth Cup, Royal Ascot, Friday, June 23) 2.78 Little Big Bear, 5.5 Sakheer, 8 Shaquille, 10.5 Lezoo, 11.5 Noble Style, 12.5 Ocean Quest, 15 The Antarctic, 16.5 Marshman, 16.5 Isaac Shelby, 19.5 Al Dasim, Cold Case, Meditate, Mischief Magic.
HAGGAS CROSS-CARDS DOUBLE
⭕ 3.35 Hamilton William Haggas, Newmarket’s scourge of the North, has slowed down a bit after a fabulous start to the season, and is currently striking at around 15%.
His Kodiac gelding, Khanjar, was eased final furlong when clearly unable to play a part in the finish of a 6f sprint at York.
He had won twice after breaks in 2022, including on firm ground, but at York was easy to back at 10-1.
Jim Crowley now has to put his money where his mouth is: he is on record as saying that Khanjar is an end-to-end performer and his defeats were down to lack of pace.
His win in a faster-than-average time under Crowley at Haydock confirms this and he is back in the plate today so, despite his big weight, I’m all for giving him last-chance saloon on a track that should suit.
I couldn’t back soft-ground 5f scorer Edward Cornelius (2 wins out of 17), and Acklam Express also needs cut in the ground. Class-5-at-best winner Walking On Clouds is tied in with Soldier’s Minute.
That one has crashed down the ratings and could return to form but he is a kinky character who can mess up the start.
Call Me Ginger, a 12.0 offer, is an Ascot winner over 5f on good to firm and has won a grade lower over six, but he’s close to Khanjar at the weights. BETDAQ 2.46.
⭕ 5.40 Yarmouth I fancy a Haggas double on the day, with Eastern Charm (Tom Marquand), a winner under very different conditions over the Yarmouth CD in April (soft).
In fact, she is a Kodiac out of a Poet’s Voice mare, and sire and dam’s sire both have optimum success on a sound surface. The race is devoid of any form which would point to her defeat. BETDAQ 2.66.
KEEPING WOLF FROM THE DOOR
⭕ 8.20 Chelmsford Once in another life, I went to the Oakham yard of John Kenneally, who had ridden Purple Silk into second in the Grand National for ‘Mick’ Vergette.
To say that Oakham is now revived is an understatement in the world of all-weather racing.
This is the base where Michael Appleby has turned out 237 Southwell winners, 166 at Wolverhampton and 111 at Chelmsford, not to mention 146 split between Kempton, Lingfeld and Newcastle on his raids further afield.
Appleby has just the one runner – Howth in this one – on a man-made surface for the rest of this week, as AW cards dwindle to a precious few.
The money was down when Howth won a nursery in Ireland for Aidan O’Brien but he’s been any price you like since then, though gradually slipping down the handicap.
His best effort was his last run here at Chelmsford in November, late-finishing half-length second to the subsequent AW Mile Championship runner-up
Billy Loughnane claims 3lb off him, so he’s 16lb below the mark he had when running in the Group-2 Royal Lodge Stakes as a two-year-old. BETDAQ 12.5.
The big danger is another ’hidden horse’, White Wolf, with Saeed bin Suroor still celebrating his 1,000-Guineas win with Mawj, with a current strike rate of 36%.
DAQMAN’S BETS
3.35 Hamilton (supernap)
BET 20pts win KHANJAR
5.40 Yarmouth (win 12)
BET 6.75pts win EASTERN CHARM
8.20 Chelmsford (win 50, win 40)
BULL’S-EYE BET 2.6pts win HOWTH
BET 5pts win WHITE WOLF
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