DAQMAN BANKER BIDS FOR GOLD: It’s a tricky day at Ascot, and Daqman tries to wriggle round the possibilities with a range of bets from banker to long-shot, win and place and multiples on the favourites. The Sagaro Stakes has thrown up the Gold Cup winner twice in recent years, so eyes down for an informative day, with the Daqman bankers currently nine from 12.
CLASSIC ABC GUIDE TOMORROW: Look out tomorrow for Daqman’s analysis of Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas, a horse-by-horse guide to the stats and facts.
TANGO TEST FOR THE FAVOURITE
2.00 Ascot Team Hannon has won this four times since 2010 and has form figures for the race of 1211414. Their runner is a newcomer, Tangled, who faces dual winner Corinthia Knight.
Archie Watson’s ‘knight’ has a royal date, entered up for jousting at the big Ascot meeting in either the Windsor Castle or the Norfolk Stakes.
This is off back-to-back success at Lingfield and Kempton, where he’s been impressive. But you have only a short-priced offer to chance whether he can reproduce his form on turf.
I shall have a pound on 9.8 BETDAQ offer Global Tango, Charlie Hills’ grey son of Zebedee, who won this race for the Hannons in 2010 and was judged ‘fastest two-year-old’ of that year.
2.35 Ascot John Gosden will have been delighted with the result of the fillies’ handicap at Nottingham yesterday won by Mouille Point, who was trounced four lengths by his hooded Icespire at Salisbury in the autumn.
The third home that day was Crimson Lake, who won on her seasonal reappearance a month ago but, perhaps more significantly, ran third to an ace maiden winner of Gosden’s, Enable, who could yet be an Oaks fancy after running third to Shutter Speed in a Classic trial at Newbury 12 days back.
Reachforthestars is clear top rating here on her fourth in the May Hill Stakes in September, a couple of lengths off Urban Fox, who finished second in the Fred Darling.
But Gosden has such a strong hand with his fillies this season that Icespire – a Coronation Stakes entry – is likely to be too good for this depleted field.
VALUE IF YOU FOLLOW LEGER LAW
3.10 Ascot (Sagaro Stakes) We’ve taken the side of last year’s Classic-season animals as four-year-olds this Spring and they’ve had winners galore. Should we stay with them here?
There are a couple of interesting ones: Prince Of Aran, third in the Rosebery at Kempton, is asked to step up in trip and prove he’s a stayer.
And St Leger winner, Harbour Law, who won first time out last season, must carry a Group-1 penalty and give weight all round.
He knows all about the trip, as runner-up in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot: a value 7.6 in the BETDAQ orange early doors.
Pallasator won a similar Group 3 on his seasonal debut last season (the Henry 11 Stakes at Sandown due later in the month).
But he’s eight years old now and his yard has yet to have a winner on turf this year – no runners in the last fortnight – and its decent AW strike of 25% (6-24) was achieved with three-year-olds only.
Battersea (fourth in the Ebor) prefers to be buried in a big field but Hughie Morrison, who won a similar Group 3 at Chantilly at the end of April, has set his stall out for this with Nearly Caught pacemaking for Sweet Selection.
It’s true to say that Hughie has nowhere to go with Sweet selection but to hope that that she can make it into Group company.
The handicapper shot her up 17lb for four handicap wins out of five but, after she won the Cesarewitch, had to confess that wasn’t enough and hiked Sweet Selection another 17lb so she is now on 104 (from 65 at the end of 2015)
It’s a fascinating contest, bearing in mind that two Gold Cup winners and a second have come out of the race since 2012.
Will Nearly Caught hang on in front and not be caught? Or will he set it up for Sweet Selection? Can Harbour Law carry the penalty (as did Tac de Boistron in 2014)? Or has Sir Mark Prescott carefully prepared Pallisator to grab the prize while the others are short of match practice?
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 points except the banker)
BET 2.2pts win and place GLOBAL TANGO (2.00 Ascot)
BANKER: BET 20pts win (nap) ICESPIRE (2.35 Ascot)
BET 3pts win and place HARBOUR LAW, and 1.75pts win and place SWEET SELECTION (3.10 Ascot)
DAQ MULTIPLES: 5pts win double CORINTHIA KNIGHT (2.00 Ascot) and ICESPIRE (2.35 Ascot)
