DIRT DRAW BOOSTS BALLYDOYLE BID: Daqman today checks out some of the stats and facts for Del Mar, the weekend venue for the Breeders Cup on Saturday and Sunday. He finds that the draw helps one Ballydoyle raider but not another. Surprisingly, it may swing the Juvenile (Dirt) in their favour.
THREE JUMPS BETS: DAQMAN sticks to the jumps on Wednesday with two bets at Fakenham and one in the final race on the Taunton card.
ADVANTAGE FLAG IN THE JUVENILE
He’s the equine Usain Bolt. But Bolt d’Or, likely to be the hottest favourite of all 13 Breeders Cup races at Del Mar this weekend, has the outside 11 gate in the 2m-dollar Juvenile for colts.
Bolt d’Or won the Del Mar Futurity before a near-eight lengths romp at Santa Anita, with trainer Mick Ruis appreciating that it’s West Coast form that counts on Dirt.
Drawn in the one stall, yet easy to back against the ‘golden bolt’, is Aidan O’Brien’s US Navy Flag, who landed the Dewhurst and Middle Park double at Newmarket, and also comes to the race after three in a row.
Flag’s sire, War Front, was top class on Dirt in the US, and his top-earning son, Declaration of War, was beaten only a nose and a head for O’Brien in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Dirt at Santa Anita in 2013.
The Juvenile has the makings of a match of potential champions, with Bolt d’Or being talked about as 2018 Triple Crown material in America, and US Navy Flag one of the 2,000 Guineas favourites.
O’Brien didn’t get the luck of the draw in the Mile, Roly Poly getting a wide gate in stall 12. Ribchester didn’t fare much better, allotted the 10 slot.
The Woodbine mile one-two of World Approval and Lancaster Bomber look handy from adjacent stalls, 5 and 4 respectively.
ROYAL TO SHINE AT FAKENHAM
1.10 Fakenham Nicky Henderson had winners at Aintree and Cheltenham over the weekend and he can start November well with Royal Ruby in the opener at Fakenham today.
He created a good impression when winning a bumper at Southwell last season – the third in that race, Cabaret Queen, made a winning hurdling debut at Market Rasen last month to give the form a boost.
The Dan Skelton trained Free Ranger has plenty of experience in point to points, including two wins but the latest of those came over three miles in heavy ground so two miles on good ground around the tight Fakenham circuit may well find him out.
A bigger danger may come from the Nigel Twistor-Davies trained Atlantic Grey who made a pleasing hurdling debut at Wetherby when third to Barton Knoll which came on good ground. The grey had the rest of the field well strung out behind him. It was over nearly two and a half miles though and this might be on the sharp side for him.
2.10 Fakenham A flat race with some hurdles in the way !! Flat form is all we have to go on here with the six fillies making their hurdling debuts.
I do like the look of the Gary Moore trained Aiguille Rouge who joined the Sussex handler from France and shaped well on her UK debut when fifth in a Leicester handicap. Her starting rating of 75 was pretty much guesswork from the handicapper but her future might well be over the jumps.
Really Super joins Amy Murphy from the Ralph Beckett yard and I just worry about her ability to get this trip. That might seem odd to say given she was second at Salisbury over 1m 6f on her final flat start but she did seem to run out of steam in the closing stages of her races.
Mirzam was a winner on the flat when trained by Mick Channon but was very disappointing on her latest start when sixth at Newcastle.
4.20 Taunton Locally trained by David Pipe, the top weight Lady Of Longstone might take a lot of beating here.
The stable had a winner at Chepstow yesterday and Lady Of Longstone is a big class dropper who will hopefully be revitalised.
She finished fifth at Worcester last time out in a more competitive race and the handicapper has dropped her a further 3lb in the weights.
I thought Mac Bella was a danger so am pleased to see that one as a non runner – it leaves St Andrews as the biggest threat after his encouraging third at Worcester last time out.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 except the nap):
BET 10pts win (nap) ROYAL RUBY (1.10 Fakenham)
BET 8.7pts win AIGUILLE ROUGE (2.10 Fakenham)
BET 4.0pts win LADY OF LONGSTONE (4.20 Taunton)
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