WINTER ROBIN ONE TO FOLLOW: Daqman’s win-and-place gem, Robinsfirth (2nd 7-1), another Colin Tizzard youngster, was the ‘moral’, beaten less than two lengths giving away 7lb at Wincanton yesterday and Daqman rates him one to follow this winter.
7-2 WINNER SAVES THE DAY: Vintage Clouds (2nd 13-8) was a less competent jumper than stablemate Delusionofgrandeur, and today Daqman has a strong word about novice races. Talking through his pocket? See what you think. Amantius (WON 7-2) got him out of trouble yesterday.
ISN’T THIS ALL A LITTLE TOO JUVENILE
Racetracks are fighting over the new kids. It’s hard enough finding winners but the modern burden for punters is the double difficulty of midweek racing. Firstly, very few races contain any consistency and quality (for which you need better than class 4).
Second of all, the class-2 and class-3 races are mainly for beginners, juveniles and novices (whatever epithet they fancy putting on the racehead).
Yesterday we had two class-3 tests at Catterick and Wincanton, both marked Beginners’ Chase. Today Newbury’s class 2 is a Graduation Chase for those that have not won more than two chases, and there’s a class-3 ‘novices’ limited handicap chase’.
At Musselburgh, an ‘introductory juvenile hurdle’ is class 2, worth £20,000, when the only handicap of 2-and-3 level on both cards is the 2.50 handicap hurdle for half that money.
Tomorrow Exeter features a class-2 ‘graduation chase’ (20 grand again!) and a class-3 novices chase. And so it goes on, each track trying to attract the new kids on the block.
Result of the competition for these novices, graduates, beginners and juveniles is small fields, and the punter – wary of them anyway because so little form – is left with very few decent handicaps to get his teeth into.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but these novices, graduates, beginners and juveniles HAVE TO gain experience, irrespective of the value of the race!
Why pander to them? Is it posturing to breeders? I don’t think so, because the British Stallion EBF Series – usually only £5,000 to the winner – gets bigger fields, granted we’re talking novice hurdles where the weeding out process begins (I won’t take this down the road to the knackers’ yard; after all, it’s nearly Christmas).
What it amounts to is that we have a proliferation of beginners’ races so that those owners foolish enough to buy into Jumps racing at great expense can hopefully get an early return on their investment and an early site of the failures, the wallet-wasters who will never make it.
But it’s a hard life for punters. And cowardly bookmakers intent on loss leaders with their high fives and free fallers would do better to provide us with some handicap prizes in midweek to stop us losing interest. It’s in their own interest.
IN-FORM JONJO COULD STRIKE GOLD
12.20 Newbury The usual suspects among top stables have taken this year on year, but only Alan King of the top seven yards turns up today.
Placed on the Flat recently, Cosmopolitan ‘ticks all the boxes’, according to Kingy, who has won novice hurdles with Messire Des Obeaux and Midnight Cowboy this month already.
12.55 Newbury With one exception in the decade, the front two or three in the market have prevailed in this maiden hurdle. Most of them would go on to prove pretty useful.
Mister Big is highly regarded but will be a better bet when he goes up in trip. Wenyerreadyfreddie is built like a chaser and, indeed, his dam’s side goes back to Bradbury Star.
After back-to-back NH Flat-race wins, High Bridge was little more than four lengths off the winner in the Cheltenham Champion Bumper. Has changed stables.
Cruiseaweigh didn’t like going right-handed at Sandown and may do better on today’s more conventional track. Golden Birthday was the ‘moral’ at Wincanton last month, giving 7lb to the winner, beaten less than two lengths, despite going to the front too soon.
Chelsea Flyer finished well in front of Golden Birthday at Kempton in March but we don’t know what to expect now the hood has been removed. I took 4.5 High Bridge but I’ll be watching the BETDAQ orange right up to the ‘off’.
1.30 Newbury Apart from Wenyerreadyfreddie, Nicky Henderson puts all his eggs in one basket with three in this novices’ handicap including morning jolly Beware The Bear, who has to give weight all round.
Henderson almost always does well at the meeting but, oddly enough, this is a race he hasn’t won in the decade.
Cheekpieces could help Monbeg Gold (7.0 best on BETDAQ as I write). The horse that was nine-lengths behind him at Fontwell last month has since won by 18 lengths.
Monbeg’s trainer, Jonjo O’Neill, is back to form with five winners in six days. Look out for entries for the stable cat!
2.00 Newbury Grade-2 winner Camping Ground is Grade-1 entered but a sunny forecast for Newbury today is against this soft-heavy winner, though he didn’t do too badly against Josses Hill on a sound surface on the last day. Coologue is better than his Hennessy run but goes best when fresh.
His performance in races before (beaten favourite) and after (pulled up) suggests that Aqalim was flattered by his four-lengths second to Thistlecrack at Chepstow.
Just A Par, the old boy of a graduation party here, probably needs further these days but is 18lb better for four-and-a-half lengths on Exeter form in the Spring.
Drumacoo goes best when fresh and Ben Pauling, whom I fancied earlier with High Bridge (12.55), also has Creep Desbois (3.10) and the impression is that he’s laid his stall out for a tilt today after a fine run of six winners in seven days.
WHY CHARLIE NEEDS TO STEP FORTH
2.15 Musselburgh Charlie Longsdon brings Forth Bridge up from Oxford but doesn’t do particularly well at the Edinburgh track, and right now is missing strike badly.
He’s had six horses placed out of 15 still standing in December but none of them winners; knocking at the door but failing to open it. What’s more he’s had seconds at 9-1, 10-1 (twice) and 14-1, as if all were unexpected.
Forth Bridge was also a runner-up, but his second to Coeur De Lion in November now looks good enough to make him hot favourite here, as Coeur De Lion took a step up at Cheltenham on Saturday.
What a situation for Longsdon to be in! He’ll look a proper Charlie at Balmoral if he can’t get this one home for The Queen. Not a serious lay but I’ll keep my Royal Reserve!
3.20 Musselburgh Tim Vaughan has runners at Newbury but makes the long haul round trip to Scotland with Broome Lane and bothers to put cheekpieces on for the first time, as if this is business not social.
The Glamorgan horse tailed off on his local Chepstow course on his seasonal return but we have to assume that he’s improved at home since, maybe showing off on the gallops in the cheekpieces!.
DAQMAN’S TIPS (staked 1 to 9 for strength)
BET 9pts win (nap) COSMOPOLITAN (12.20 Newbury)
BET 5pts win HIGH BRIDGE (12.55 Newbury)
BET 4pts win MONBEG DUDE (1.30 Newbury)
BET 6pts win JUSTE POUR NOUS, and 1pt win and place HANNINGTON (1.50 Lingfield)
BET 6pts win DRUMACOO and 4pts win JUST A PAR (2.00 Newbury)
BET 2pts win ROYAL RESERVE (2.15 Musselburgh)
BET 5pts win BROOME LANE (3.20 Musselburgh)
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