CHELTENHAM COUNTDOWN: THE CAVALRY: Today Daqman lines up his list of horses to follow for the festival and beyond. The 21 contain the Cheltenham Cavalry, his assembled troops ready for the attack on the big prizes.
TOMORROW: WHO LANDS THE BIG ODDS? That’s enough about the good things, but who has winners at huge prices? We don’t just mean Daqman, but which trainers and which races turn up the shock outsiders at Cheltenham? It’s a feature that will get you value hunting through the form and the BETDAQ offers.
ALL NEXT WEEK: SEE HOW THEY WON: Race by race a week in advance, Daqman reveals the stats and facts that produce the festival winners. It all starts two weeks today.
RIDE THE CHELTENHAM CAVALRY..
Two out of three already! Daqman’s cavalry of top horses has already had three runners, as he’s presented his list piecemeal in this column: Cue Card (for one race) banker WON 4-9, Frodon banker WON 8-11, Blaklion 2nd. Now all those who ticked his boxes come together in today’s column and the Cheltenham charge is on.
Altior A chaser so nimble he could win a Champion Hurdle. Spring-heeled nine triumphs in a row (4-4 over fences). Trainer Nicky Henderson targets the Arkle (‘we will avoid Douvan at all costs).
Ballyandy Better than his official rating (‘the world is his oyster’ – trainer Nigel Twiston Davies). Tiger finish over Movewiththetimes at Newbury. Choice of Supreme or Neptune.
Blaklion Saved up to avoid being too high in the Aintree handicap and showed his true colours after the weights came out when second in the Haydock National Trial, the ‘moral’ giving poundage to the winner.
Brain Power A ‘stupid horse who doesn’t concentrate’ has been transformed by Nicky Henderson into ‘as good as Buveur d’Air’. In fact, he now has a higher official rating, so Champion Hurdle here we come!
Defi Du Seuil Unbeaten in last six starts, a rare Triumph Hurdle favourite in that he’s already scored three times at Cheltenham. Ran away with Triumph Trial. ‘He’s on springs’, says trainer Philip Hobbs.
Douvan It’s hard to say more about him after 14 consecutive wins, unless you want me to write a book. ‘Just saunters along’ and ‘hacking at all stages’ are jockey comments from his last two. Champion Chaser.
Empire Of Dirt Bred like a prince of chasers (Westerner out of a Roselier mare) and showed massive improvement in the autumn (and a rise of 37lb in two years). Second favourite for the Ryanair.
Finian’s Oscar A winner impressively from 2m to 2m 5f+ as the latest star in the Team Tizzard firmament. It is still not certain whether he will go for the Supreme Novice Hurdle or the Neptune (favourite).
Fox Norton Another Tizzard, currently seen as inferior to other young stars but results in good ground have been 11311 (two at Cheltenham), which augurs well for the festivals at Prestbury Park and Aintree.
Frodon Every time I say he’s probably had enough, and Paul Nicholls says ‘he’ll be a great horse next season,’ the trainer asks this brilliant jumper for ‘just one more’. He’s won six out of seven still standing.
Good Thyne Tara As a Kayf Tara also related to stayers on the dam’s side, the mare’s bumper and maiden-hurdle successes suggest that she has speed to go with stamina. A step up in trip should help her jumping.
Le Mercurey He’s raced against the best (Many Clouds, Native River) and been labelled a flatterer for getting so near and yet so far from them. But a 151 rating recommends him for handicaps on a flat track.
More Of That Beat Annie Power in the 2015 World Hurdle. Required two wind ops before back to form (every chance; bad mistake last) in the Irish Gold Cup. Entered in the Gold Cup and Grand National.
Movewiththetimes Where Ballyandy is, this one must be there also. They fought it out at Newbury, six lengths clear of the big hurdle field.
Native River Cue Card doesn’t have to give weight to his stablemate Native River in the Gold Cup. He has to give away years – four, in fact – to a progressive stamina-packed stayer, who is entitled to improve even on his Hennessy and Welsh National double.
Neon Wolf, Unbeaten at different distances on differing ground in a short career, Neon Wolf beat five winners impressively in a Supreme trial at Haydock in January.
Romain de Senam Beaten in a photo for the Fred Winter last March, staying on fiercely, and – as one who can take fences in his stride – will relish a fast-run race over around 2m 4f in the Close Brothers Handicap.
Vroum Vroum Mag, I shall not read too much into her Hatton’s Grace defeat by Apple’s Jade – it was her first run back – nor into Apple’s Jade’s defeat by Limini in the Quevega Hurdle (heavy ground).
Wholestone, Nigel Twiston-Davies has made this one a Cheltenham horse already. He’s run four times there (three wins) from 2m 4f to 3m on good ground and soft. Cast iron to run his race.
William H Bonney A strong traveller but still ran green when winning a 14-horse handicap at Cheltenham, which had County Hurdle written all over it, and the big Newbury hurdle probably came too soon afterwards.
Yorkhill He beat Yanworth when he won the Neptune at the last Cheltenham Festival and his only defeat in 10 starts came in the Punchestown Champion Novice when he’d had enough for the season.
HAVE A POWERFUL PUNT, SQUIRE!
They’re talking horses! High Aspirations, Nobel Leader, Out Now, Rude And Crude, all runners on today’s card at Leicester, are perhaps telling the story of the mighty rise and cruel fall of the Premier League champions and particularly their boss, Claudio Ranieri.
But, such is football, that Leicester’s grit and flowing football returned last night in the first match without Ranieri. He must have choked on his pizza!
The racing equivalent is trainers in and out of form, and we’ll look for that in the two feature races. For starters, I took 4.4 Rude and Crude for Gary Moore, who landed the Surrey National for me at 10-1. Now for the main course.
3.40 Leicester (Squire Osbaldeston Chase) Leicester’s 2016 triumph at 5,000-1 goes down in great sporting stories, as does the tale of Squire Osbaldeston, who played for the MCC and bet 1,000 guineas he could ride 200 miles in 10 hours.
Not until 1993 was his feat (around nine hours, in fact) beaten narrowly by Peter Scudamore, one of the great jockeys of the late last century.
Jonjo O’Neill has had four winners in 10 days and, in first-time cheekpieces, Powerful Symbol was going like the winner when he unseated three out in a higher grade at Catterick.
4.10 Leicester (Daniel Lambert Chase) At 52 stone ‘Britain’s fattest man’ of the 18th century, Lambert rivalled the attraction of the Elephant Man a century later.
Nowadays for such spectacles, we just watch presidents and politicians making fools of themselves and of all of us in the process.
Trainer in form in this one is Anna Newton-Smith, who is going for a hat–trick spread over two weeks, 2-2 as she lines up Goring Two, who seemed back to form in January and maybe the ground was too heavy when he was last of four at the beginning of this month. He’s a fat price at 13.5 on BETDAQ.
THE NAP: Traveller (2.30 Lingfield), trading at 4-5 this morning, is expected to make all, dropped to 7f and with Ryan Moore booked for the one ride.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked for strength, 1 to 9)
BET 6pts win RUDE AND CRUDE (2.10 Leicester)
BET 9pts win (nap) TRAVELLER (2.30 Lingfield)
BET 8pts win POWERFUL SYMBOL (3.40 Leicester)
BET 3pts win and place GORING TWO (4.10 Leicester)
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
