MORE HIDDEN HORSES TODAY AT 9.9 AND 10.0: Daqman finds more hidden horses at 9.9 and 10.0 today after yesterday’s 10-1 nap slipped through his fingers. Or rather, a clear leader going to the last, Ribeye screwed the hurdle and he himself slipped while under challenge, the pair 10 lengths clear.
CHELTENHAM COUNTDOWN: TOP 10 WINNERS: Daqman has been Daqman since 2007 and seen times change. One thing that hasn’t changed is our man’s propensity for big-priced winners on BETDAQ. Here are his top 10 strikes with 12 big-odds horses at the Cheltenham Festival. All bar three were in handicaps.
DAQMAN’S GREATEST HITS
Cheltenham is a betting jigsaw in three main pieces. There are novices, senior championships and handicaps. They are usually fitted together by Irish stables who end up with almost the full picture!
NOVICES Ratings can help but collateral form and supported results are better. How strong was a particular trial race; was it truly run with good sectionals and/or overall time?
Which stables have such quality of novices in depth that the top of their pile is high enough to overshadow any opposition?
CHAMPIONSHIPS Daqman has been ahead of the game by producing 15 trial winners for Fortune Cookies, horses taking the road to Cheltenham gold and winning along the way (nearly 100 points profit).
But on the day you still have to choose your champion, usually between two or three: is this a cornerstone, with the conditions right for him?
HANDICAPS Contrary to received wisdom from the self-styled pro punters and bloggers, you have a lot going for you here.
Big prices, so that you can win overall at any one festival, or win in one handicap over time, with a staking plan to give you enough returns to make the race a ‘result’.
The handicap hunter checks out the stats and dissects all aspects of the form, looking for hidden horses with forgotten ability, those coming to hand with good recent form and, again, collateral form.
Next week in See How They Ran I’ll give you a daily analysis of each card one week in advance. Meanwhile, here are some of the big-odds winners scored by Daqman in the races where he’ll look for more:
WON 44.0 Cause Of Causes (8-1 SP) NH Chase 2015
WON 16-1 Tiger Roll NH Chase 2017
WON 14-1 Le Breuil NH Chase 2019
WON 13-1 Sunnyhillboy Kim Muir Handicap Chase 2012
WON 12-1 Spring Heeled Kim Muir Handicap Chase 2014
WON 11.0 Cause Of Causes (9-2 SP) Kim Muir Handicap Chase 2016
WON 26.0 Holywell (SP 10-1) Ultima Handicap Chase 2014
WON 25-1 Holywell Pertemps Handicap Hurdle Final 2013
WON 16-1 Empire Of Dirt Brown Advisory Handicap Plate 2016
WON 14-1 Whisper Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle 2014
WON 10-1 Rock The World Grand Annual Handicap Chase 2017
WON 15-2 Le Prezien Grand Annual Handicap Chase 2018
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE has Cheltenham ante-post prices now.
LET’S GO AT 9.9 ON BETDAQ
⭕ 2.10 Lingfield Hey Ho Let’s Go should give you a big spin in this sprint at BETDAQ offers of 9.9 this morning.
Hey Ho is now below his last winning mark and claimed off. That’s put him back down a grade to class 6 in which he is 2-2 under Angus Villiers at Lingfield.
Last March – 2lb higher – he had his front-running rival today, Lethal Blast, beaten into fourth when receiving 6lb. Today Lethal Blast is giving Hey Ho 6lb. Let’s go!
ANOTHER DISH FOR MOORE
⭕ 3.40 Wincanton Richidish can continue the reign of seven-year-olds in this 2m 4f handicap chase at BETDAQ 10.0.
Cheekpieces are expected to make a difference to Richidish on his handicap bow for the Gary Moore stable which has landed 10 winners in the last 12 days.
Alberic, a Nick Williams cast-off now with Philip Hobbs, is the obvious threat, with his experience but, though he’s only five, is festooned with aids: tongue-tie, blinkers (even stirrups and reins, already!).
These two look standouts in a big field containing horses aged 9, 10 (two of them), even 13 who are surely not suited to this fast track.
BACK ON THE BLUE TRAIL
⭕ 7.00 Kempton We have seen Alenquer conquer Lord North in the Winter Derby in a track-record time at Lingfield.
Now his trainer, William Haggas, wants a ticket to take the Road To The Kentucky Derby via Grenoble at Kempton tonight.
The first winner of this race, Gronkowski, went on to finish second in the Belmont but, apart from a Listed win by one of the three other ‘Road To’ scorers, there hasn’t been much to write home about wherever they have roamed.
Haggas’s odds-on winner of 2019, Jahbath, could not do so much as win – or even place – in a handicap
Grenoble was beaten six lengths by Team Gosden’s Find on turf in August, when Grenoble ran green, first time on a racetrack.
Only a class-5 maiden and a novice at a similar level have won from 24 Gosden runners so far this year, whereas Charlie Appleby has already won seven.
The Boys In Blue have built up a fantastic record from an early start in the last couple of seasons, and Blue Trail (betdaq 3.5) is already off the mark.
He’s a Teofilo out of a sister to a World Cup winner, and looks set to give Godolphin back-to-back wins in this ‘Road To’ race. Road to Meydan, I would think.
Andrew Balding’s Harrow had a lot of experience as a two-year-old but first-time hood at this stage doesn’t inspire.
Balding has won 11 times on AW this year but has been missing strike lately; three seconds and two thirds thirds at 7-2 or shorter.
DAQMAN’S BETS
2.10 Lingfield (win 18)
BET 2pts win HEY HO LET’S GO
3.40 Wincanton (win 18)
BET 2pts win RICHIDISH
7.00 Kempton (win 10, nap)
BET 4pts win BLUE TRAIL
What are points? Points facilitate a staking plan, which is the secret to creating profit. One point is whatever you choose: a pound, a euro, or whatever ….
Start with a bank and decide how much you can afford to lose over a period of time, and determine the size of your bets accordingly. Daqman makes this variation every day.
