DAQMAN SUPERNAP LANDS GAMBLE SECOND DAY RUNNING: After Verdana Blue (WON 10-11 from around evens) on Sunday, Daqman landed a second consecutive supernap yesterday but a much bigger gamble from 3.6 on BETDAQ: Manuela De Vega (WON 8-13) ran green in the closing stages and eased back to even money in running before finding her stride to win going away.
THE TRAINER OF DERBY WINNERS AND CHAMPION RIDERS: Remember the days of Ray Cochrane? Of an apprentice champion called Frankie Dettori? The mentoring of top jockeys was all part of a trainer’s life at a Newmarket yard that sent out Derby winners Kahyasi and High-Rise. That trainer was Luca Cumani, whose retirement is announced. Daqman pays tribute.
LUCKY LUCA, TRAVELLING MAN..
What do they have in common? Stanley Wootton, Staff Ingham, Frenchie Nicholson, Reg Hollinshead, Ian and Andrew Balding.
Not related yet an unbeatable breeding line for Gold Cup winners and Classic heroes alike. Not horses but jockeys par excellence.
Tony McCoy, Pat Eddery, Frankie Dettori, Oisin Murphy, Walter Swinburn, to name but a few as they say, owe their racing lives to master trainers who were their mentors.
And right there among them is Luca Cumani, who tutored apprentice champions Jimmy Fortune, Jason Weaver and Frankie Dettori.
Now we know why the success of God Given in the Park Hill Stakes last month was such an emotional day for the family Cumani. Luca has now announced his retirement from training after 43 years; the quiet man, the travelling man, is calling it a day.
I shall remember Cumani for another jockey who rode for him. In fact, Ray Cochrane, one of those steady hands of the weighing room, was on Cumani’s Kahyasi when he landed the 1988 Epsom and Curragh Derby double. And I wasn’t (Daqman kicks himself for the umpteenth time, stage left), though I normally followed them religiously.
It’s not the winners you miss that count but the winners you get, and reliable riders like Cochrane and John Reid of the same era made my bread and butter while, through the years, Piggott, Carson, Cauthen, Kinane and Co added the jam.
Now I am firmly a Frankie man. But he, too, wouldn’t be here in all his cheeky glory, without the steady hand of Cumani, and later John Gosden, to give him such balance in the saddle and in life that he could leap to fame clean out of the saddle, seemingly without effort!
As Churchill Downs approaches, we should remember that 24 years ago, Cumani won the Breeders Cup (Mile) with Barathea at the very same venue as this year.
He had way back been a pioneer of travelling to sit at the world table of prizemoney, winning the 1983 Arlington Million with Tolomeo, beating one of the American legends, John Henry. Champions don’t fall bigger than that.
BEAU THE BEST OF THREE
2.20 Exeter Looking down the list of non runners this morning (one of DAQMAN’S first jobs after a strong morning coffee) I was rather relieved to see none at Exeter. There’s precious few runners on the card as it is with fields of 2,3,4,5,5 and a bumper 15 as the firm ground has scared so many away.
Just three runners in the opener but this race threw up a 20/1 winner last year and there’s not much between the trio here.
The safest call though looks to be the Philip Hobbs trained Beau Du Brizais whose two career wins have come on fast ground and he comes into this on the back of a close up third at Ludlow last time out.
His jumping sometime comes under pressure but with just two rivals he can hopefully settle into an easier rhythm on his first trip to Exeter. He’s exactly evens on BETDAQ at the time of writing which looks fair enough with concerns over his two rivals.
Mr Mcguiness has won three times over hurdles but there was no encouragement on his first jumps start at Ludlow where he made a whole series of blunders before eventually being pulled up.
That would leave the mare Still Believing as the danger. She comes into this on the back of a win at Chepstow but it was a quite a hard race and only ten days ago so I’d be nervous about her going back to back off a 7lb higher mark.
3.20 Exeter Neil King is on a good run of form – his last 11 runners have finished 13112912612 and his Elysian Prince looks to have a good chance in this amateur riders’ handicap hurdle.
He’s done all of his winning on the all-weather on the flat but was a winner over hurdles at Stratford on good ground and despite being beaten in selling company last time out is dropping back down to a mark on which he can get competitive.
The lightly raced Akkapenko remains a maiden but has gone close in his last two starts but may just need some relief from the handicapper. He also has plenty to find with Ladies Dancing on Newton Abbot form.
7.10 Kempton Fox Champion was only beaten a nose on debut at Doncaster and pulled six lengths clear of the third horse. He should have plenty of improvement to come and can see off the challenge of the penalised runners here Evasive Power and Be Like Me in a contest that should concern the three.
Irish raider Evasive Power was a shock 22/1 winner on debut at Navan and has run well since whilst Be Like Me picks up her penalty for a win in a nursery at Wolverhampton last time out.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 points):
SUPERNAP BET 20pts win BEAU DU BRIZAIS (2.20 Exeter)
BET 4.4pts win ELYSIAN PRINCE (3.20 Exeter)
BET 10.6pts win FOX CHAMPION (7.10 Kempton)
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