LOOK OUT AT CHELTENHAM: Look out tomorrow and the rest of the week for previews and BETDAQ action on the weekend November meeting at Cheltenham, with the start of Fortune Cookies for the Jumps.
TODAY: Daqman hunts for winners at three meetings today, and fancies he finds losing favourites, too; so maybe a Lay down or two!
WOLF KNOCKING AT THE DOOR
⭕ 1.25 Huntingdon It’s what you beat, not what beat you. This age-old turf maxim may apply to hot overnight favourite, Special Acceptance, in this veterans’ chase.
Vision De Maine was the well-backed winner when Special Acceptance was runner-up at Uttoxeter last month but the third horse home had never been placed under Rules (0-13), chase or hurdle.
Special Acceptance looks better when you appreciate that he was giving 19lb to both winner and third. But his own overall score is 1-31, a long-ago chase win on the soft (it’s good ground today).
The Wolf, very well handicapped on his old chase form, comes back fresh for Olly Murphy, who has saddled eight winners in the last nine days.
Sean Bowen had a good ride on him at Cheltenham last autumn and they were runners-up at Southwell in their only other race together.
FIRST AND LAST FOR COURT
⭕ 2.45 Lingfield Since teaming up with Harry Kimber, Chloe’s Court has won three times for Robert Walford – defeats mainly on heavy – including first and last runs last season. ‘Wrong’ at 4.6 BETDAQ offers this morning.
Walford’s yard is in good form, bringing Aurigny Mill back from a 180-day break to score at Newbury on Thursday, and ‘Chloe’ can outrun the Philip Hobbs pair in this four-horse race, despite being 11 years old now.
Hobbs himself used to strike at near-25% at this weekend’s Cheltenham November meeting and is currently 24% in the general run of play, now partnered by Johnson White.
Their likely hot favourite here is High Game Royal, whose sole hurdle success was half a mile shorter in the Spring of 2023.
Has his ground and was in good form recently without winning, which often applies to stablemate Jatiluwih.
Jatiluwih’s last win was in a Point in 2020, He’s had chances, including three seconds, but David Maxwell will not recourse to the whip. Spike Jones needs rain and another half–mile.
NOTHING RANDOM ABOUT THIS
⭕ 7.00 Southwell Billy Loughnane to the rescue. He had a 50% strike rate for Team Charlton in 2023 and has 33% hits for them this year. That’s from just nine mounts all told.
So that’s quite a special riding arrangement in this class 2, as Completely Random returns to AW (2-3 last year) after decent efforts raised to the same level on turf.
It’s a race three-year-olds win, as they get ever closer to their fourth birthday, and currently the Charltons are getting a 75% peak-form rating from all their runners.
IT’S QAZAQ VERSUS METALLO
⭕ 7.30 Southwell Roger Varian has struck potentially his biggest seam of gold yet, as newly appointed to the Godolphin team of trainers for 2025.
Varian’s very best in 2024 was Charyn, who pipped Arc winner Bluestocking for third place in Timeform’s horses of the year.
Charyn is in Japan this week to try to enhance his record in the Flat season of Group-1 success in the Queen Anne, Prix Jacques Le Marois and Queen Elizabeth 11 Stakes (British Champions Mile).
Varian is still scoring at 37% as turf gives way to AW, with Qazaq his sole contender on Tapeta tonight.
In this class-3 mile there are just three three-year-olds, with Magnum Opus a winner at Chelmsford a year ago struggling since but Qazaq and Metallo seemingly heading for better things.
Kingman gelding Qazaq is 2-2 (Chelmsford and Kempton), starting 14-1 ON and strolling home six lengths clear at Kempton late last month.
The danger may be overpriced Metallo (10.5 Betdaq Betting Exchange offers), one of six Rossa Ryan rides at Southwell tonight and unlikely to be the huge SPs of his first four starts.
After an unplaced (at 12-1) debut at Newbury, Metallo beat the subsequent French Guineas runner-up, Dancing Gemini, on that one’s debut at Salisbury in June when Metallo started 40-1. and was then 80-1 behind a certain City of Troy in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.25 Huntingdon (win 10)
BET 3pts win THE WOLF
2.45 Lingfield (win 11, nap)
BET 3pts win CHLOES COURT
7.00 Southwell (win 10)
BET 3pts win COMPLETELY RANDOM
7.30 Southwell (win 20)
BET 2pts win and place METALLO
BET 8pts to win 10 QAZAQ
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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.
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