DAQMAN’S BIG-RACE VENTURES LAND LONG-ODDS PLACES: Daqman played the outsiders at Goodwood and Galway yesterday but had to be content with two out of two place bets, so near and yet so far from the big hits he was looking for. There are even bigger lotteries today.
WON (2nd 12-1) INNAMORARE (from 28.0 BETDAQ, Galway)
WON (4th 16-1) VENTURA KNIGHT (from 19.5 BETDAQ, Goodwood)
CURRENT DAQMAN RECORDS
Daqman 52 Pricewise 25 (Daqman 385 points clear to 10pt stakes)
Bull’s-eye naps (6-12) 264 points up to recommended stakes
Supernaps (16-22) 118 points up to 20pt stakes
ADVANCE HEADLINES TODAY
🔹 ON YOUR BIKE AND PLAY CATCH-ME
🔹 THE TRACK SHOULD SUIT EMINENCE
🔹 13.5 BETDAQ OFFER TO TAKE A HAND
🔹 FINISH FLUSH WITH A POKER DEAL
ON YOUR BIKE AND PLAY CATCH-ME
1.50 Goodwood Older horses (6, 7, 8) have taken this in three of the last four years for the mixed yards of Neil King, Ian Williams and Nigel Twiston-Davies, and jumps ace Nicky Henderson has also won it recently.
Lil Rockerfeller scored by 15 lengths last year but is 17lb higher today, and needs rain. Timoshenko is 10 days short of a year off but unbeaten all last season.
Dubawi Fifty was beaten only a head in the Northumberland Plate after more than a year off, his previous run being a length second in the Ascot Stakes over today’s trip. Just 5lb higher now, and Danny Tudhope rides.
Another long absence was rewarded with instant success when Paddy’s Motorbike made all here at Goodwood (1m 6f). He’s a long-distance hurdler by trade these days so I expect him to go off, wheels on fire and play catch-me, just like Lil Rockerfeller last year.
It’s another pinstickers’ race in which I took BETDAQ 21.0 Paddy’s Motorbike, with Dubawi Fifty tempting as the saver maintaining any lingering hopes of a form outcome at 7.0. But I was hungry for a hit!
Both Timoshenko (Sir Mark Prescott) and True Destiny (Roger Charlton) are stepping up in grade but bring to the table form figures of 11111 and (2m plus) 12121 respectively.
VERDICT: Sir Mark is in fantastic form, going for a hat-trick here, though I really like the look of True Destiny (10.0 offers) – I thought I saw abundant stamina – but can he catch Paddy’s Motorbike?
THE TRACK SHOULD SUIT EMINENCE
2.25 Goodwood Seven of the last eight winners of this have been drawn between two and six, with only one winning favourite in the decade.
Eminence has been kept to 1m 2f or shorter but you wonder why, after his sole start at 1m 4f produced a late run to snatch third in the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot (Sir Ron Priestley in the rear). This track should suit.
Dubai Tradition’s front-running tactics, which have produced 2-2 over 1m 4f, should also be suited to the track, but will set it up for the finishers.
Durston could be one of them, though the wide outside has looked dead ground, and the drying day won’t suit him.
It needs one of those Jamie Spencer weaving masterclasses, a waited-with Durston having dodged through the gaps at Chester already.
Le Don de Vie won at good odds (10-3 and 5-1) for me at Epsom, and is another with a good finish, but has he moved from Andrew Balding to Hughie Morrison, who admits that this is a fact-finding, how-to-train-him mission.
VERDICT: Desert Icon (7.0) is improving all the time. He hasn’t got the best draw, but such as Dubai Tradition will spread them out a bit, and allow the better horses to come through. Eminence (9.4) has to be one of them.
13.5 BETDAQ OFFER TO TAKE A HAND
3.00 Goodwood (Molecomb Stakes) Where Mystery Power failed to carry a penalty in the Vintage Stakes yesterday, now Maven has the same burden after winning a Group race at Chantilly.
But, equally, fillies like the Queen Mary fourth Liberty Beach don’t win this, so the front two in the BETDAQ betting both seem vulnerable.
The answer may be a little win-and-place tilt at them with Hand On My Heart (13.5 offers), with Ryan Moore booked. Air Force Jet has plenty of experience and the stable is doing well this week.
3.35 Goodwood (Sussex Stakes) Though Too Darn Hot had to drop back to 7f to score at Deauville (form at that trip 1111), the lure of just less than £600,000 has him back at a mile today.
But he has to overcome not one but two who beat him in separate mile races: Phoenix Of Spain (Irish 2,000 guineas) and Circus Maximus (St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot).
Phoenix Of Spain ran below par in the Ascot race and I have to side with Circus Maximus in this three-cornered return bout. Tasty at 5.0 on BETDAQ.
5.55 Goodwood Three-year-olds are at the front of the market for a race they never win! Find yourself a fancy outsider; mine are Sanaadh (34.0) and Apex King (40.0).
FINISH FLUSH WITH A POKER DEAL
7.20 Galway (Plate) For 13 years (and the last 18 out of 19), the winner has carried less than 11st. Only four horses over the age of eight (just one of double-figure age) have won in 22 years.
In a handicap, where the runners are equalised by the weights, we need an edge or two like that, but the snag with those figures is that Henry De Bromhead and Gordon Elliott (two winners each in the last four seasons) share no fewer than seven runners off less than 11st.
So we are left guessing which is best from their yards, and this time it’s usual to look for jockey clues.
Gordon Elliott uses Jonathan Burke (winning jockey in 2015) on Ravenhill and Mark Enright (last year’s successful rider) on Barra.
Ravenhill has not been out of the frame in nine starts but has had only three runs over fences (2-3), while Barra’s prep for this under Rachael Blackmore ended ignominiously at Kilbeggan when she fell, five lengths clear at the last.
Rachael switches to Henry De Bromhead’s Poker Party, whom she rode to back-to-back success at Naas at the start of the year. The pair afterwards met strong opposition at Punchestown (winner and second rated 151), finishing third, and has a tempting light weight today.
Snugsborough Benny won the Galway Blazers a year ago but is up 16lb, and Auvergnat is 12lb higher than for his big Christmas success.
Flat-bred Azzuri is a fast front-runner at around 2m, so this is an interesting experiment by the raiding Skeltons, who have just two runners at the entire festival (So Lonely 6.10 today is the other one). Azzuri was fourth for his former Irish stable in a Flat handicap at this meeting a year ago.
Trained by Paul Nicholls for J P McManus, Modus has won six times when fresh and is 10lb lower over fences than over hurdles.
DAQMAN’S BETS
1.50 Goodwood (win 50 bull’s-eye bets, 10 places)
BET 5pts win TRUE DESTINY, and 5pts place
BET 2.5pts win PADDY’S MOTORBIKE, 2.75pts place
2.25 Goodwood (win 30)
BET 5pts win DESERT ICON
BET 3.5pts win EMINENCE
3.00 Goodwood (win 30, 10 place)
BET 2.5pts win HAND ON MY HEART and 4pts place
3.35 Goodwood (win 30)
BET 7.5pts win (nap) CIRCUS MAXIMUS
5.55 Goodwood (win 50 bull’s-eye bets, 10 places)
BET 1.5pts win, 2pts place SANAADH
BET 1.25pts win, 1.5pts place APEX KING
7.20 Galway (win 50 bull’s-eye bets, 10 places)
BET 2.5pts win POKER PARTY, 2pts place
BET 2pts win MODUS, 2.5pts place
7.30 Leicester (win 20)
BET 6pts win DARK REGARD
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