THE WINNERS KEEP ON COMING: Hats off to Daqman for yet another winner yesterday! Hatadora (WON 7-4) made it six days running, following Sardinian Warrior (WON 7-4) on Sunday. Before that? Two winners a day! We’ll try to catch up on the records but the winners keep coming in..
PUNCHESTOWN OPENS: Today is Champion Chase day at the opening of the Punchestown Festival plus three Flat meetings in England.
RACE OF THE DAY: CHAMPION CHASE
⭕ 5.25 Punchestown (Champion Chase): Un de Sceaux was rated 164 before the first of his back-to-back Punchestown titles (2018-19) and Energumene’s double stint of the last two years started off 175, all for Willie Mullins. Today’s ratings:
164 CAPTAIN GUINNESS (Henry De Bromhead) LAYS LOGIC: Won here in his young days but recent visits to Punchestown unrewarding.
In the 2021 Novice Chase at this meeting and then in this 2022 Champion Chase, both behind Energumene, he ‘tired and unseated last’ and was ‘ridden and weakened approaching last.’
Both were on the kind of ground – easy but not soft – that he’s likely to encounter today.
His reputation was saved by his winning the Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March (soft) but the result is full of holes: Edwardstone fell; El Fabiolo pulled up after a bad mistake. Three finished but one of them was tailed off.
163 SAINT SAM (Willie Mullins) Good jumper but in-and-out form. Galway win part of a hat-trick but fell next time and, after taking the Red Mills at Gowran Park in February, he pulled up at Fairyhouse.
162 GENTLEMAN DU MEE (Willie Mullins) Drying ground enabled his Dublin Chase victory at Leopardstown last February (officially ‘yielding’) but in first four without winning in quartet of Grade-1 chases since.
Beaten 10 lengths, fourth, in this race last year, then 2nd, 4th, 2nd behind Dinoblue, El Fabiolo and then, the last day, Captain Guinness in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
161 BANBRIDGE (Joseph O’Brien) Needs good ground and, when he got it in January he won at Kempton, his first Graded success in senior company.
Had previously won the Arkle Trial on good ground at Cheltenham in the autumn of 2022. Only five starts since; goes well fresh.
159 ASH TREE MEADOW (Gordon Elliott) Galway Plate winner who has scored with plenty of cut but shows his best form on good.
158 DINOBLUE (Willie Mullins) Improver this year, she beat Gentleman De Mee at Leopardstown; then on the same course was runner-up to El Fabiolo (Caπtain Guinness third) in the Dublin Chase (yielding to soft).
Stepped up to 2m 4f at Cheltenham, beaten threeparts of a length giving 5lb to the winner. Good vibes back at 2m; as with Jonbon recently, there is more confidence in her stamina.
DAQMAN’S VERDICT: The improving mare Dinoblue comes out with an edge on form over Gentleman Du Mee, and the rating for Captain Guinness appears inflated because his Champion Chase at Cheltenham lost its top combatants and it became a match race.
UK ACTION
THE BRIGHTON QUEEN
⭕ 4.10 Brighton This class 3 handicap is by far the best race on the South coast this afternoon and Zayina is well fancied to follow up on her course success of last year which came over a shorter mile trip.
Her starting handicap mark of 82 looks tough enough though – this is a step up in class and her trainer George Boughey is only 1 win from his last 36 runners.
Not for me – I prefer The African Queen who won here on debut and was then outclassed in a Listed race at Sandown but bounced back to win at Wolverhampton.
She has better form to my eyes than Zayina but is starting handicapping on a mark six pounds LOWER. A simple decision on which one to bet.
IT’S SHOWTIME
⭕ 7.25 Catterick Highfield Viking has run two solid races since being fitted with blinkers and followed up a Thirsk win with a respectable fourth at Pontefract.
However, both those runs were with give in the ground and he might not be as effective on good to soft (which could easily dry out even further come race time).
Russco is one who looks well handicapped at present but is also likely to be unsuited by the drying conditions.
A value alternative to the Betdaq Betting Exchange likely market leader Highfield Viking is Showtime Mahomes who has winning form on quicker ground and has largely been running consistently well since a Musselburgh class 4 win last September.
He is down a rung in the class ladder and back to the same 70 mark he was on when winning at Musselburgh.
HATS OFF SO SWITCH TO SLAINTE
⭕ 8.25 Catterick Following the most experienced apprentice in a race confined to apprentice riders wouldn’t be the worse system in the world and when you have a horse that looks to have the best form too that goes double.
It’s the case here with Ryan Sexton riding Slainte Mhath for trainer Katie Scott.
Slainte Mhath brings by far the best recent form into the race and her chance here has been made a lot easier by the defection of likely warm favourite Trilby.
Whilst her recent form has come on more testing ground, she does have multiple winning form on good to soft and Sexton stands out as the best pilot in this race.
DAQMAN’S BETS
4.10 Brighton (win 10)
BET 1.7pts win THE AFRICAN QUEEN
5.25 Punchestown (win 10, nap)
BET 10pts win DINOBLUE
6.00 Punchestown (win 10)
BET 4pts win MONTYS STAR
7.25 Catterick (win 10)
BET 2.5pts win SHOWTIME MAHOMES
8.25 Catterick (win 10)
BET 3.6pts win SLAINTE MHATH
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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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