DAQMAN’S SUPERB SIX-HIT OF BANKERS: A 20-point level-stake investment on Daqman’s bankers would have netted 108 points with a sequence that reached six yesterday with the best price of them all so far, 2-1 Lough Derg Spirit. That’s a 90% ROI (return on investment).
WON 4-5 Tara View
WON 8-11 Le Prezien
WON 4-7 Baron Alco
WON 8-15 Asthuria
WON 4-5 Yanworth
WON 2-1 Lough Derg Spirit
TODAY: A Hennessy puzzle for Gordon Elliott; three short-priced shots for doubles and trebles in Daq Multiples; but two races – one each at Sedgefield and Lingfield – in which the favourites have black marks against them. Southwell is abandoned.
THIS ONE’S PAYDIRT BUT WHERE AND WHEN
Where there’s muck there’s brass. There’s always value to be had in the BETDAQ ante-post orange but, regarding the 24.0 Empire Of Dirt for Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup, it may be a case of hold your horses.
Bookmakers are as low as 16.0 but it’s always been uppermost in trainer Gordon Elliott’s mind to head down the Grand National routes (Aintree or Fairyhouse) which would ordinarily mean the Ladbrokes Troytown Chase at Navan on Sunday or the Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday week.
Gigginstown switched Empire Of Dirt to Elliott after Colm Murphy won with him back to back in the Leopardstown Chase in January and a Grade-3 handicap at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Apart from wanting to win a National, two things that have concentrated the trainer’s mind from watching endless videos of his new stayer are that he does best on a sound surface and going left-handed.
All will be revealed in the next couple of days, with Elliott four-handed in the Troytown and with Outlander (18.5 on BETDAQ) also left in the Hennessy alongside Empire Of Dirt.
Outlander was winning the Clonmel Oil Chase with apparent ease earlier this month when Bryan Cooper went for a big one at the last and crashed out.
Gordon and the Gigginstown connections must be checking every hour to see that Outlander has shaken off any reaction to that recent fall. With only 10st 9lb in the Hennessy, it looked clear cut before that happened: Outlander for Newbury, Empire Of Dirt down the National route. It will be a late call now.
12.55 and 1.25 Wexford Elliott has an odds-on ‘good thing’, if backers are right this morning, with the three-times-runner-up Sutton Manor (12.55), and two chances in this Slaney Hurdle.
Willie Mullins with the Ricci colours on Crack Tiepy (1.25) is another at a short price, fancied to overhaul Gigginstown’s Ballela Boy, best of the Elliott pair but giving 17lb to Ruby Walsh’s mount.
SKELTON RAIDER JAKE LOOKS BIG AT 9.4
12.40 and 1.10 Sedgefield Dan Skelton has a 31% strike rate, raiding Sedgefield, rising to 36% when the jockey is Bridget Andrews.
They team up with another short shot today, The Bay Oak (12.40), whose Sedgefield CD second has been followed by a 26-lengths success for the 12-lengths-behind third horse home.
What does that make the winner, Le Breuil (Ben Pauling)? I have him in my notebook but surely he’ll be odds-on when he reappears. Meanwhile, The Bay Oak can boost him still further.
The other Skelton-Andrews runner, Master Jake (1.10), will be a much bigger offer – in fact, 9.4 in the BETDAQ orange as I write – since he makes his chase debut and hasn’t been out since April.
But Master Jake, a good Points winner in Ireland, has won after a long break, and completed four in a row at this time last year, two between the flags and two over hurdles in England.
It’s a cracking contest with a back to form Venetia Williams travelling North with just the one horse, even though Burtons Well hasn’t been seen for 618 days.
Nansaroy also scored first time last term, and he’s up from Welsh Wales with Evan Williams also now hitting the mark again (currently 110314, still standing).
But none I have mentioned is favourite this morning. The BETDAQ orange is headed by Waiting Patiently, trained by in-form Malcolm Jefferson who is 34% here over fences, with 29% of his runners striking when ridden by Brian Hughes.
As ever on BETDAQ, with such a strong contest, the orange works out at a 104% overround, the bonus punters need in order to get stuck into their fancy.
There are just seven starters left as I write, so my plan to go win and place, is ditched in favour of two at a price: 9.2 Master Jake and 9.6 Nansaroy.
2.35 Lingfield Warren Greatrex, who has a superb 5-6 (83%) strike rate with hurdlers at Lingfield, saddles Bells ‘N’ Banjos, and Evan Williams declares Hughsie, both first-time winners in November last season.
Billy No Name has struggled with an 11lb stopper after he scored at Plumpton in February, and Earls Fort is now 13lb higher than for the start of his quick hat-trick at Chepstow last month.
He can’t be penalized for his last success, because it was in an amateurs’ race, but his wins were all in events with ‘good’ in the going return, so faces a massive change of terrain here.
Earls Fort and Billy No Name were favourites this morning, so I took 5.3 Hughsie and 6.2 Bells ‘n’ Banjos.
DAQMAN’S BETS
BET 2.5pts win on each MASTER JAKE and NANSAROY (1.10 Sedgefield)
BET 9pts win (nap) CRACK TIEPY (1.25 Wexford)
BET 4pts win on each HUGHSIE and BELLS ‘N’ BANJOS (2.35 Lingfield
DAQ MULTIPLES: 3 x 3pt win doubles and 1pt win treble The Bay Oak (12.40 Sedgefield), Sutton Manor (12.55 Wexford) and Crack Tiepy (1.25 Wexford)
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