BIG WEEK FOR HOLIDAY RACING: After a quiet start to the week, Daqman looks forward from tomorrow to 19 meetings in three days (Thursday to Saturday), with the Eclipse Stakes the top feature of the weekend. He has 16 bankers out of 20, a 192-point Bull’s Eye profit and is leading Pricewise 47-16.
TOMORROW: ECLIPSE ABC GUIDE: Daqman has set a fantastic big-race record this year from his ABC guides, with winners of the English and Irish Derbys, the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Northumberland Plate. Tomorrow he previews the Eclipse Stakes. What will come out top this time?
DATE WITH A GAL AT THE CURRAGH
There are two ways of looking at things. If you see only one way, you lead the life of a one-eyed man. One way at Chantilly yesterday was to blame jockey James Doyle. Or you could say it was the track.
If you have a pace horse at Chantilly, rail running is fine. If not, you need to galvanize your beast for a sweep down the outside. It is not an uncommon situation on any turning track. James, you were always going to struggle to get out of a rails pocket on Be My Gal.
One way or another – tricky track or muggins jockey; maybe a mixture of both – the fates contrived to get Be My Gal beaten when she would have won a nez, a cou, a tete. Beaucoup plus?
We can only look forward to the Roger Charlton filly’s date in a Group 2 (restricted to her own sex) at The Curragh in three weeks’ time. I’ll make a date with her, too, that day; in the BETDAQ orange.
* Meanwhile, Aidan O’Brien will send Adelaide to take on Toast of New York in the $1.25m Belmont Derby in New York on Saturday, potentially giving us a Breeders’ Cup line to Eagle Top, so impressive when he beat Adelaide at Royal Ascot.
PUT A BIG HANDICAP IN THE PATTERN
Sunday week tells us more. A focal point in the debate about the Pattern, and the Irish Derby ‘walk-over’ by Australia, will be the Grand Prix De Paris on Sunday July 13, two weeks before the King George.
Dropping the French Derby to 1m 2f and boosting the Grand Prix to compete with the King George, was the Baldrick plan of Baron Edouard de Rothschild.
Since then, Grand Prix results have produced a winner, two thirds, an eighth and a 12th in the Arc de Triomphe; the French Derby a third, fifth, 11th and two in 15th.
Ireland (2), England (1) and Germany (1) have landed the Arc spoils since the change and this year’s French Derby was won by The Grey Gatsby.
So, if the French have shot themselves in the foot, should we really have a European debate which is likely to repair their gaffe and do England and Ireland no good?
I leave the Pattern preachers to their hobbyhorse with my regular spanner in the works on behalf of punters everywhere: give us more good handicaps and raise at least one of them to Group status! Betting keeps the show on the road.
KEEPING A SHARP LOOKOUT AT BATH
3.15 Hamilton Winner-a-day Mark Johnston (well, 16 in a fortnight) placed a three-year-old to win this last year, and one of his pair of second-season animals should win today.
Eric Alston (generally) and Linda Perratt (at this track) are on the cold lists and two of the runners will be struggling for speed at the age of nine. I dutched Mambo Rhythm (5.7) and Rookery (7.0)
4.00 Brighton We’ve waited a long time this season to find a Sir Mark Prescott sequence horse, rising through the ranks. Red Passiflora could be the first of them in 2014.
Prescott has an eye-popping 52% record with three year olds in July (10 from 19 in five seasons) and the baronet with the broncos is back in some kind of form.
5.15 Hamilton Three-year-olds find this tricky: their generation has been placed three years running without winning this.
I expect two keen-going sorts to fight it out: Funding Deficit and Starbotton (big at 13.0 on BETDAQ this morning).
6.40 Bath Roger Charlton could gain some compensation for the defeat of Be My Gal, with Sharp Lookout in a handicap for the first time here after being gelded. The op seems to have concentrated his mind, and the hood is dropped.
8.10 Bath The hood goes on Red Lady for the first time, with her stable the punters’ favourite at Bath, showing a level-stakes profit of 42 points in the last four seasons. Red Lady could get all her own way up front.
Shilla is back to the CD of her sole success and, lightly raced, looks Red Lady’s main opponent, though Rebecca Romero, also a sprint winner on firm here, is dropped in grade for Denis Coakley and James Doyle. Come on, Jim lad; this is not Chantilly!
DAQMAN’S BETS (each bet staked to win 20 points).
BET 4.2pts win MAMBO RHYTHM and 3.3pts win ROOKERY (3.15 Hamilton)
BET 14pts win (nap) RED PASSIFLORA (4.00 Brighton)
BET 10pts win FUNDING DEFICIT and 1.6pts win and place STARBOTTON (5.15 Hamilton)
BET 9pts win SHARP LOOKOUT (6.40 Bath)
BET 7pts win SHILLA and 4pts win RED LADY (8.10 Bath)
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