14-1 AS DAQMAN BAGS FIRST BIG HANDICAP OF THE GALWAY RACES: After being beaten a neck with Li Mu Bai (2nd 13-2) in one Galway handicap, Daqman had to wait for the main prize to land Coltor a big-odds winner as the opening course of the six-day feast of Ballybrit yesterday. It gave him a winning bet per day for the 14th day out of the last 15.
WON 14-1 COLTOR
IT’S GOODWOOD CUP DAY WITH A 23.0 BET AGAINST STRADIVARIUS: Goodwood opens with Stradivarius defending his four-times Goodwood Cup crown. Daqman picks a 23.0 bet in the mud and has a bull’s-eye bet in the very next race at 16.5.
DAQMAN 43, PRICEWISE 23 (Daqman +67.64, Pricewise –144.00)
BULL’S-EYE NAPS 1-1 (100%)
SUPERNAPS 9-12 (75%)
LAYS LOGIC 11-15 (73%)
FORTUNE COOKIES 6-14 (43%)
DAWN OR DOES THE COCK CROW?
⭕ 1.50 Goodwood (Chesterfield Cup) This is the annual five-day picnic for Yorkshire-based Mark Johnston, who has had 161 winners on the course for almost £6m in prizemoney.
Johnston shows a level-stakes loss of up to £393 on 41 tracks but one of only four showing a profit, despite 1,148 runners, is Goodwood, and his four strikes since 2012 in this 1m 2f handicap have been at punter’s prices: 5-1, 8-1, 12-1 and 14-1.
He had the one-two last year with Maydanny (made all from the one stall) and Sky Defender (out of 13, but tracked winner). Both turn out again, with Sky Defender 17lb better off, and both drawn low this time.
The biggest difference is the ground: soft is hard for front-runners here, and it may be significant that all four of those Johnston winners scored on a sound surface.
Cambridgeshire winner, Majestic Dawn, likes plenty of cut. He slammed Lucander and Bell Rock that day at Newmarket. Lucander seems to reserve his best for York and, when Bell Rock turned the form around with Maydanny at Newmarket in May, it was good to firm.
Bell Rock’s stablemate Johnny Drama and Cockalorum, one two in the John Smith’s Cup[ at big prices, had Lucander and Sky Defender well behind. Cockalorum has won on soft, which could be his edge to turn around the placings.
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE value 9.8 Majestic Dawn, 13 Cockalorum
ANGEL’S 9.8 LOOKED HEAVEN SENT
⭕ 2.25 Goodwood (Vintage Stakes) Berkshire Shadow’s Coventry has taken a knock (two knocks?) with second and third, Eldrickjones, and Vintage Clarets, only fifth to Lusail in the July Stakes and the third only sixth in the Newbury Super Sprint.
Lusail is 3-4, going for a hat-trick today; has won with cut on Pontefract form, and would be favourite in a race previously won by Pinatubo and Battleground had not Oisin Murphy be riding Berkshire Shadow.
But Lusail’s form is also suspect: both placed horses in the July Stakes were unfancied (11-1 and 40-1) class-4 winners.
Angel Bleu should be concerned with the finish on the strength of his three-length-plus defeat of Lusail on the soft at Pontefract in May.
Looked big at the morning BETDAQ offers, after being backed overnight with bookmakers. Frankie Dettori riders.
BETDAQ value 9.8 Angel Bleu
THE CREATIVE FORCE BE WITH YOU
⭕ 3.00 Goodwood (Lennox Stakes) Creative Force, Escobar, Happy Power and Safe Voyage have all won on the soft, but it’s a deep race as well as deep going today.
Yet there are those who will look no further for singles and a double today than the John Of Gaunt at Haydock in May when Kinross (runs in this) and Njord (runs in the Galway Mile) finished first and second.
But seven years out of 10 the low stalls land this and I thought that Creative Force (stall 2 today, the Jersey Stakes winner, was unlucky in the July Cup in that the firm ground was against him and he had a rough passage in the race.
Happy Power (from stall 5 today) has won five times over 7f; with soft in the going return over that trip, he is 1133411, and the in-form Ryan Moore rides him for the first time.
Space Blues bucked the low-stalls trend last year, winning out of 10 (he’s now in 12) but , though he’s won twice on good to soft, he’s been kept away from soft-heavy until today.
BETDAQ value 2.68 Creative Force (nap)
SUN COULD SHINE AT THIS TRIP
⭕ 3.35 Goodwood Cup Stradivarius takes on two Derby winners as he bids for five Goodwood Cups in a row.
One of them, Santiago (2020 Irish Derby), was third behind him last year, but Ryan Moore rides Serpentine, who ran away with the Epsom Derby but is 000 on soft. Sir Ron Priestley has no soft-ground form.
Truesham was British long-distance champion in October (Ascot soft). Spanish Mission won the Yorkshire Cup and was third in the Ascot Gold Cup. Too big at 9.7.
That trip on firm ground was too much for Emperor of The Sun but I fancy we will see him in a better light here.
His rider, Gavin Ryan, has been in sensational form, just pipping my Li Mu Bai bet at Ballybrit yesterday. You owe me, Gavin!
BETDAQ value 9.7 Spanish Mission, 23.0 Emperor Of The Sun
RECON ON RECOVERY MISSION
⭕ 4.10 Goodwood Always a big-odds winner of this 5f sprint, always off 9st or less and shared five times out of six between young horses, aged four and five.
Not many of those around this year: Desert Safari, Glory Fighter, Shvara, King Of Stars, Recon Mission, Sunday Sovereign,
Tony Carroll has hit a seam of form and Recon Mission was the gamble of this race last year but lost it at the start.
Recon Mission was back to form on a similar downhill track, at Epsom in June, under Ray Dawson, who keeps the mount today.
With Ray’s claim, Recon Mission is a stone better off on last year’s race, and has cheekpieces first time. He’s won three times with cut in the ground.
BETDAQ value 16.5 Recon Mission
MOSALA BIG HANDICAP DECIDER
⭕ 6.15 Galway (Mile) A 59,000-euro handicap over 1m 123yd, in which Ado McGuinness goes for a hat-trick, after back-to-back wins with Saltonstall.
Ado nominates six (one a reserve), including Saltonstall, who has scored from gates 14 and 12 off 89 and 96. Today he comes out of 8 off a mark of 105 under a 5lb claimer.
An inevitable early position from a low stall rarely stems the tide as they swing round the long sweeping right-handers, and seven of the last eight winners were drawn from 9 to 18.
Mosala was in midfield on the outer when holding off Tauran Shaman at Leopardstown (1m 2f) and his prominent style facing a similar task is exactly what jockey Chris Hayes wanted when he nominated this shorter race after the Leopardstown win.
It was Mosala’s second fight at Leopardstown with Tauran Shaman, who had beaten him a neck in May when 2lb better in.
So this is Round 3 for them and Saltonstall’s fourth attempt at this Mile title (he was unplaced before his double).
BETDAQ value 9.8 Mosala (nap)
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.50 Goodwood (win 20)
BET 2.25pts win MAJESTIC DAWN
BET 1.5pts win COCKALORUM
2.25 Goodwood (win 30)
BET 3.5pts win ANGEL BLEU
3.00 Goodwood (nap)
BET 12pts win CREATIVE FORCE
3.35 Goodwood (win 30)
BET 3.5pts win SPANISH MISSION
BET 1.25pts win EMPEROR OF THE SUN
4.10 Goodwood (bull’s-eye bet to win 50)
BET 3.25pts win RECON MISSION
6.15 Galway (win 20, Irish nap)
BET 2.25pts win MOSALA
What are points? Points facilitate a staking plan, which is the secret to creating profit. One point is whatever you choose: a pound, a euro, or whatever ….
Start with a bank and decide how much you can afford to lose over a period of time, and determine the size of your bets accordingly. Daqman makes this variation every day.
