LAYERS SHUDDER AT 7-2 CRACKER FOR WINNER-A-DAY DAQMAN: Winner-a-day Daqman is at it again! After an odds-against winning nap on the first day of the week, he would if he could land a good-priced one yesterday, and he did with Wudashudacuda at 7-2. Thanks to the famous Daqman staking plan, that put him in profit for the day.
Monday
WON 5-4 DANNY KIRWAN (nap)
Tuesday
WON 7-2 WUDASHUDACUDA
EARLY BIRDS INCLUDE DERBY ANTE-POST OUTSIDER ON BETDAQ: Today Daqman declares his Derby bet as the Early Birds list is published in full for the first time. His bets today include a NAP at Southwell.
17.0 BETDAQ WEMBLEY STRIKE
Early Birds first full list. Along with High Definition, I have heard good news from Ballydoyle of the colt’s full brother, Innisfree, and of the filly Queen’s Speech.
You’d expect Innisfree to be by Yeats but – you guessed it – he’s yet another Galileo owned by The Lads.
🏇 HIGH DEFINITION (3yo, Aidan O’Brien, see yesterday) is on a family mission, after Innisfree lost his entire three-year-old career, a year out but with a strong comeback expected.
🏇 INNISFREE (4yo, Aidan O’Brien). Entered in the Alleged Stakes at the Gladness meeting at the Curragh (Saturday, April 17), and expected to return to his 2019 form.
The Beresford winner, and English Futurity second, targets the Group-3 start but that’s potentially a stepping-stone to Group-1 glory (Tattersalls Gold Cup, The Curragh, May 23).
🏇 QUEEN’S SPEECH (3yo, Aidan O’Brien). The Met Office tips me that the Grand National will be run on firm ground (watered by humans) and that the Guineas will be wet (watered by the heavens).
That would be good news for connections of Queen’s Speech (yes, The Lads again, or some of them) who was super-impressive on heavy at the Curragh in November.
🏇 CHAMPERS ELYSEES (4yo, Johnny Murtagh) Fillies and mares like Enable on the Flat and Honeysuckle over hurdles seem to win everything these days. So we’d better have one on the list.
Whatever the weather – she’s won from firm to heavy – and whatever the contest (handicap to Group 1) Champers is the improver extraordinary.
She steps up every time, her rating rising from 79 to 115 in a year. Next stop: Gladness Stakes, The Curragh, April 17.
🏇 KHAIZ (3yo, Charlie Appleby) The 700,000-guinea full brother to Ghaiyyath and half-brother to Zhukova eased in the market at Saturday’s Doncaster meeting and looked as if he needed the run.
🏇 ADAYAR (3yo, Charlie Appleby) Nottingham was the launchpad of Godolphin’s Space Blues, who has just this January completed a five-timer. Adayar was even more impressive in a nine-lengths romp down the Colwick Park track last autumn.
🏇 ASCENSION (4yo grey, Roger Varian) I put him up for the Lincoln but he ran freely and restraint bogged him down in the ruck. A different proposition, dropped a furlong, for the Victoria Cup.
🏇 BRUNCH (4yo, Michael Dods) Unlucky to come up against a Group horse (Haqeeqy) in a handicap; otherwise, surged to the front after easing nicely through the Lincoln field, only to find a classy rival with a turn of foot just too good for him.
I had the winner anyway, but my 18.0 (on BETDAQ) Brunch would have been tastier. I’d pick the same trio again – Haqeeqy, Brunch and Ascension – but not with Brunch giving 7lb to Haqeeqy! That was some effort.
🏇 WEMBLEY (3yo, Aidan O’Brien) If, as I said yesterday, High Definition is to swerve the Guineas, then – for me – Wembley and Battleground take pole position of the Ballydoyle contingent for Newmarket.
I said last backend that, after he scythed through the field to almost cut down St Mark’s Basilica in the Dewhurst, Wembley was one of my Fortune Cookies for 2021, certainly an early bird with wings.
Battleground has ‘grown up’ doing the winter and looks a ‘tank’, says my man, but he agrees that – at the prices – Wembley is the pick, though much depends on the ground.
‘If I were to put them in race-distance order on fastish ground, I would nominate a mile for Battleground, 10 furlongs for Wembley and a mile and a half for High Definition; an easier surface makes Wembley hard to beat in a Guineas and on top of the ground a Derby horse. ’
BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE 2,000 GUINEAS: 6.0 Battleground, 9.0 Wembley; 1,000 GUINEAS: 26.0 Queen’s Speech.
EPSOM DERBY: 5.0 High Definition, 17.0 Wembley.
Ante-post 17.0 Wembley, Epsom Derby
KASAKH TO GET US IN THE BLACK
⭕ 2.10 Hexham Not a race I was originally planning on looking at but I’ve been drawn in by a horse NOT being a non runner!
I am surprised to see yesterday’s Newcastle scorer Peltwell still running (around mid-morning at least) and despite being in great form I think the mare is vulnerable here under her 7lb penalty.
She was notching up a March hat-trick at Newcastle yesterday which is no mean feat and if she wins today it will be one for the anoraks – ‘name a horse that has won four hurdle races in the same calendar month?’
She travelled really well yesterday but was possibly getting tired close home when challenged and Hexham is a much stiffer test.
She also faces a fairly strong rival here in Kasakh Noir who will be ridden by Brian Hughes who is suddenly involved in quite a battle for the jockeys title with the rallying Harry Skelton. They start the day split by three winners.
Kasakh Noir heads to Hexham from Northern Ireland – probably not the easiest of journeys given the current climate and he comes here on the back of a big run when a 33/1 second at Navan earlier in the month.
The downside is that he hasn’t won over hurdles since 2015/16 when Harry Skelton (ironically) partnered him to successes at Newbury and Market Rasen but is starting to look well handicapped again.
6.0 ‘Kasakh’ looks like ‘overs’ to me on the BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE and with a stakes cover on the place market (three places) I’m hoping it’s a bet to nothing.
ROCK TO STAR AGAIN
⭕ 2.50 Southwell Whatever happens 40 minutes earlier, Harry Skelton will be confident here aboard hat-trick seeking Rockstar Ronnie.
He’s burdened with a double penalty but after his effortless success over course and distance earlier in the month when winning by 14 lengths it’s unlikely to stop him. Certainly the money buyers who backed him from 1/5 to an SP of 1/9 that day never had any anxious moments.
He’s progressive and still very much an unknown quantity and should account here for No Risk Des Flos who was beaten under a (single) penalty last time out at Leicester.
WAITING FOR CLAIR
⭕ 8.15 Kempton A marathon nine race card down at Sunbury and I’m happy to wait until the final race.
Au Clair De Lune partnered by man of the moment Benoit De La Sayette looks interesting for the George Scott stable who are in good form having saddled a Doncaster double over the weekend.
Au Clair De Lune could easily outclass these. She shaped with promise on her debut here and followed up with a good win at Doncaster. She travelled well in a competitive handicap at Goodwood last time out and makes plenty of appeal in this grade.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 10 points)
BET 2.0pts win and 2.8pts place (stakes saver) KASAKH NOIR (2.10 Hexham)
BET 10.0pts win (nap) ROCKSTAR RONNIE (2.50 Southwell)
BET 5.5pts win AU CLAIR DE LUNE (8.15 Kempton)
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.
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
