NOW FOUR DAQMAN BANKERS IN A ROW: Daqman switched to Fairyhouse to be sure (to be sure) of his fourth consecutive winning banker, Willie Mullin’s Asthuria, which he put up in his Fortune Cookies as a future star at Cheltenham. Here’s his four-timer:
WON 4-5 Tara View
WON 8-11 Le Prezien
WON 4-7 Baron Alco
WON 8-15 Asthuria
HEADING FOR WINNER AFTER WINNER: Daqman was on three consecutive winning bets yesterday, with Asthuria (WON 8-15) followed by Utility (WON 11-4) and Shantou Rock (2nd 13-2), win and place at 9.2 offers on BETDAQ. Daqman’s the man who makes his own headlines; just look at these for super-confidence:
- IT’S A BANKER START FOR ASTHURIA (won 8-15)
- PLUMPTON: BARON TO GET OFF THE MARK (won 4-7)
- TAKE THIS EARLY CHRISTMAS PREZIEN! (won 8-11)
- CONDITIONS SPOT ON FOR ASTRACAD (won 100-30)
- TRADE TARA BUT A BANKER IN MY VIEW (won 4-5)
ODDS-ON RASEN FAVOURITE: ‘NO’ WAY
1.00 Market Rasen The layers love No Comment, beaten favourite three times in four starts. His only success in the sandwich of expensive defeats was in a bumper.
Scorpion’s progeny from Presenting mares has been ordinary but Dan Skelton’s Lieutenant Gruber looked smart on his runaway bumper success at Carlisle, though it remains to be seen what happens when hurdles are put in the way.
One line to ‘form’ is that Skelton saddled the winner by 12 lengths when No Comment was turned over at Aintree.
Mr Monochrome is exposed, and front or van runner Accord looked very promising at Cheltenham on the last day. Market Rasen’s turning track seems ideal to keep him interested, and Tom Scudamore has been booked.
I’m going to try for a triple whammy here, with No Comment as the lay (shade of odds-on in the BETDAQ orange this morning), Lieutenant Gruber (2.88) as the winner and Accord win and place at 7.0 for a forecast with Ladbrokes.
2.05 Market Rasen The coincidence winner would be Eminent Poet in this Lord Tennyson Hurdle, off bottomweight here with Venetia Williams back in business and with a good strike rate on the Lincolnshire course. But, like many of hers, the Poet has shown his best form on heavy ground.
Duke Street is being aimed at the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham. This sharp track may not suit him, and his Newbury winning form has been let down by the beaten horses. The time to be on is when he steps up to 3m.
Big Chief Benny is the slick jumper you need for this track, and his trainer Alan King landed a hat-trick yesterday.
It’s a sunny day at Rasen which won’t suit soft-ground lover Minstrels Gallery, but it’s perfect for Oscar Rock, a course winner over fences. He won first time last season but hasn’t scored over hurdles for three years and gives weight all round.
Chasing is on hold for Big Chief Benny, which suggests that Kingy can see some hurdles handicaps coming his way, so I shall follow him, starting with this morning’s 4.3 on BETDAQ.
IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY AT WINCANTON
1.15 Wincanton Apart from Trump and Brexit, the most overused word of the moment is ‘demographic, ‘ which has replaced ‘epiphany’ as the vogue.
Epiphany has become so downtrodden by overuse that tasting a new breakfast cereal can give you an ‘epiphany’. Bran flakes, my friends, were never spiritual. Laxative, sometimes.. spiritual, never!
Here we are at Wincanton with Demographic topping the list of runners. As for a horse called Epiphany, she (a mare, in fact) ran for Ed Dunlop 12 years ago and her ‘moment of realization’ was when she won a maiden at Ayr.
She then lost four races in a row by a total of 106 lengths, and one morning Ed had had enough (sorry, had his own epiphany) and sent her off to paddocks. She is now a fairly-proud mum to Agerzam on the Flat and Idder over hurdles.
My view of this 1.15 at Wincanton is that it’s a poor field, and Demographic could well give the weight all round. But you don’t have to take my word for it!
1.45 Wincanton This is a better race than it looks on paper, with the first-time-tongue-tied Brelan D’As and Hint Of Mint better than the bare form.
But the Warren Greatrex string is doing well and Bon Enfant is one to follow. Could do with more juice in the ground, though won his first two starts in the last campaign.
3.25 Wincanton On what we know, the only threat to Black Valentine is Clondaw Shane (needs rain) and Philip Hobbs is worried about the ground for that one.
MONKSLAND YARD WINS THIS CONTEST
2.10 Clonmel Oil Chase This is a race won by nearly horses – an Arkle second and a Ryanair third in the last two seasons – and, thus far, Aleichi Inois is not quite top class.
The Galway Plate runner-up could pick up a pot with the conditions of the race in his favour but the cloud hanging over him for this is whether the conditions on the ground will survive the forecast rain.
I still see him stepping up as a stayer one day, and Willie Mullins is on record as saying that he could go the cross-country route.
Clarcam has his purple patches. Generally disappointed after a winning streak two years ago and same again after back-to-back success in the Spring, fifth in the Galway Plate and worse off now with Aleichi Inois.
Though stablemate Outlander is eight, he’s run only 13 hurdles and chases, but he could do with some rain and is badly in with Monksland on their one-two at Leopardstown in February.
Monksland started the season well, as ever, but fell when attempting the top flight in the Down Royal Champion Chase. Gets weight all round here and could better Aleichi Inois, with his yard having won this race three times already.
2.40 Clonmel Willie Mullins has taken this one four years in six and, though Westerner Lady, has been kept on the go all year – she loves summer ground – she should be hard to beat back in mares company.
She has just a neck to spare over Thanks For Tea on their Cork running on the last day, but the Lady hit a fence early on and wasn’t quite herself after.
Before that, she showed at Tipperary that soft ground is not such a problem as was thought, and she has plenty of daylight between herself and Presenting Mahler, who was seven lengths behind her at Listowel in September.
So it falls to Rock On The Moor to reproduce her one-off form of Cheltenham, surprise second to Vroum Vroum Mag in the Mares Hurdle. Has done nothing like that before or since but the step back up to 2m 4f suits.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked 1 to 9 for strength, except lays)
LAY to lose 10pts NO COMMENT, and BET 7pts win LIEUTENANT GRUBER, plus 2pts win and place ACCORD (1.00 Market Rasen)
BET 6pts win DEMOGRAPHIC (1.15 Wincanton)
BET 5pts win BON ENFANT (1.45 Wincanton)
BET 8pts win (nap) BIG CHIEF BENNY (2.05 Market Rasen)
BET 6pts win MONKSLAND (2.10 Clonmel)
BET 8pts win BLACK VALENTINE (3.25 Wincanton)
DAQ MULTIPLES: BET 3 x 3pts win doubles and 1pt win treble BIG CHIEF BENNY (2.05 Market Rasen), WESTERNER LADY (2.40 Clonmel) and BLACK VALENTINE (3.25 Wincanton)
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