SEVEN BANKERS OUT OF EIGHT: Daqman trusted rising star Hereford trainer Kerry Lee to deliver in her raid on the Fairyhouse Easter Festival yesterday, and his maximum-stakes nap, Top Gamble (WON 5-4), scored by seven lengths to make it seven bankers up out of eight:
WON 1-3 Paint The Clouds
WON 5-2 Forgiving Glance
WON 4-9 Mendip Express
WON 13-8 Le Prezien
WON 4-6 Vroum Vroum Mag
WON 1-1 Thistlecrack
2nd 1-1 Outlander
WON 5-4 Top Gamble
ANOTHER DAY OF HEADLINES: Daqman recommended What’s Up Woody (WON 4-1) as the day’s best trade horse, suggesting he’d try to lap his field at Hexham. Woody, who made all and won by five lengths, was also one of the BETDAQ Movers from 9.0 to 5.8 (55% change). Stick with our tipping shakers and market movers:
WOODY IS THE TRADE HORSE AT HEXHAM
TOP GAMBLE OF THE FAIRYHOUSE FINAL DAY
FINAL FLING: THE FAIRYHOUSE ANGEL AT 34.0
FLAT SEASON SPECIALS
TODAY: Top Ten Early-Bird Trainers to Follow
TODAY: Daqman’s Devil’s Dictionary of Racing Terms
TOMORROW: Lincoln Handicap ABC Guide.
THE TOP TEN TURF EARLY-BIRDS TO FOLLOW
The Flat gears up this weekend. It’s the Lincoln at Doncaster and then, before you know it, after the Grand National, the Guineas and Derby will be here.
Which stables are hot? Who should you follow for a Springtime bonanza of winners? Here are Daqman’s top 10 early-bird stables:
Ralph Beckett Two winners from his last four AW runners. Usually has his fillies ready early, and has had four April-May Group winners in the last five seasons.
Watch out for him in the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks trials.
Mick Channon Four wins from his last seven starters on AW, notably
Volunteer Point in the Fillies’ and Mares’ AW Championship. Watch out for early two-year-olds, particularly when travelling North to Hamilton (three meetings in May) and Carlisle (two).
Richard Hannon Percentage-wise, Team Hannon’s best months are March (50%), April (31%) and May (33%). Once their two-year-olds strike form, get on. Unlike precocious animals at many other stables, the best of them improve and they always have a top-notcher or two for Royal Ascot.
Mark Johnston More runners than a London marathon, so a low strike rate all season, except April (80%). He’s had three two-year-old runners so far; all have won, and he threatens to attack Kempton and Doncaster on Saturday.
Brian Ellison Not doing much right now but tends to find the bottom of staying handicaps for his hurdlers to hit the Flat (turf) running.
Richard Fahey Like Johnston, tricky to follow because so many runners, including multiple entries, and general 12-14% strike rate all season. But cracking level-stakes return from Doncaster (he has 11 left in the Lincoln, which he won last year), and Spring meetings at Chester and Epsom are also on his agenda.
John Gosden His 8-36 on AW (22%) would be the envy of most but he has been missing strike badly, his eight winners dwarfed by 22 finishing second, third or fourth. Six entries at Doncaster Saturday and Sunday. Jack Hobbs said to be lined up for the Jockey Club Stakes at the Guineas meeting.
William Haggas Two Lincoln winners since 2007 and very wise to watch what he’s about. He’s hit 44% (4-9) with older horses on AW during the winter. Loves Chester, Haydock and Musselburgh (80%).
Kevin Ryan Seven entered at Doncaster; very smart stable for sprinters, and I noticed Goken getting a nice prep for the turf season in the AW Championship Sprint.
Roger Varian A 33% AW strike rate over the winter – 47% with three-year-olds (8-17) – included a maiden in his first handicap, Recognition (won 17-2), which this column spotted but, slightly more notably, the yard captured the Sheema Classic with King George hero Postponed. Four Doncaster entries.
THE DEVIL’S DICTIONARY OF RACING TERMS
** An irreverent ABC guide to racing people and events **
Absolute Classics Seriously funny jokes called ante-post betting on the Guineas and the Derby
Anniemation Horse Power
Arab racing Owners of Channel-4 and Newmarket
Beyer A distraught American punter who has spent all his money on race ratings
Channel-4 Racing People who like to talk to each other on TV
Cheltenham Irish mass celebrated in England
Fry and Laurie Transport for prizes won by new trainer
Gamble Bet when you have no idea of the outcome
Gosden Pronounced godsend
Grumble A bookmaker
Jockey Club An apology
Judge Short-sighted man who picks winners from photographs of horses
Good judge Short-sighted man who picks winners with pin in newspaper office
Grand National A race where they lower the fences every three years
Lincoln Races run at Doncaster and the Curragh
Derby Race run at Epsom and every other country in the world
Leicester An award for riding on top of the table
McCoy Man who works for betting shops and tips the favourites in betting shops
Mullins A jumps card in Ireland
O’Brien A top trainer who is no relation to a top trainer whose son is the next top trainer
Pricewise The best prices a bookmaker won’t lay
Ring Of Kerry Staying races ring-fenced by Kerry Lee
Ringer (1) Mrs O’Sullivan a.k.a. Nina Carberry. Better than any bloke
Ringer (2) Chelmsford, different class to Great Leighs
Royal Ascot Race meeting for celebs who don’t much like horses but get in tents
Ruby Last-fence faller who comes good at Cheltenham
Sponsor Anyone with money except a bookmaker
Sprinter Champion two-miler
Start of the Flat Seaside day out in Yorkshire in the winter
(End of the jumps There isn’t one)
Starter Man with flag who shouts at horses and jockeys to try to stop them racing
Stats A guide to better losers
Two-year-old A horse you bet blind
Three-year-old A horse you bet will run to its two-year-old form but it doesn’t
Unlucky The loser you backed
Lucky The winner somebody else backed
Weld (verb) Assemble pipeline to syphon Galway prizemoney
KAFOO IS CATCHING PIGEONS AT HOME
Stats-bats headline of the day. Racing Post big-race trends on the Guineas declares: ‘Look for O’Brien trained runners making seasonal reappearance.’ You don’t say!
That’s a bit like that so-valuable instruction for wartime safety: Keep out of the area where the bombs are dropping!
2.30 Exeter The 40% stable strike-rate points to Space Oddity, Fry’s sole runner of the day, only five-years-old and not easy to settle when he won at Taunton.
The Fry odyssey could well continue here – after all he should know more than me, as they say – but, with two against the Oddity dropped in class, I’d rather be a layer than a backer.
Twentytwo’s Taken is the trade horse, a 6.2 BETDAQ offer this morning, likely to go off at a rate of knots, down in grade from Listed level, and Winning Spark (6.8) reverting to class 3, in which he looked more than comfortable, cruising to victory at Taunton in January.
3.25 Southwell This is a cracking little contest, which Michael Appleby may have bagged. He won the race last year with Pearl Nation (10.0 on BETDAQ as I write).
And he’s brought in extra ammunition with Moon River (4.1), whose course record is four from five. Thanks to the low BETDAQ orange overround, I can back both.,
7.25 Kempton Charles Hills could be another early-bird trainer on turf, striking at 32% on AW.
Big Shoes, gelded over the winter and impressive enough at Wolverhampton, didn’t like the Southwell sand and could return to form here.
But Ed Dunlop (let’s make that 12 early-bird trainers to follow!) is absolutely flying and the word this morning is that Kafoo catches pigeons before breakfast.
DAQMAN BETS (staked to win 20 points)
LAY to lose 5pts SPACE ODDITY, and BET 4pts win TWENTYTWO’S TAKEN and 3.4pts win WINNING SPARK (2.30 Exeter)
BET 5.7pts in MOON RIVER, and 2pts win and place PEARL NATION (3.25 Southwell)
BET 10pts win (nap) KAFOO (7.25 Kempton)
£25 IN FREE BETS
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