DAQMAN on Sunday

Sunday 29 March 22-1 FIRST-DAY WINNER: Daqman made a stunning start to the Flat at Doncaster yesterday with a big-odds one-two in the Spring Mile. He had three bets in the race, including Manassas (won 22-1) and Extraterrestrial (2nd 16-1). 15 IN A ROW? Daqman has landed 14 consecutive lays. Today, number 15 runs in one of the Leopardstown Classic Trials. NEW READERS START HERE: Daqman acts as an interpreter to some racing parlance and stable advice which caught out punters from Doncaster to Dubai yesterday. I think I’ll bring out a handbook for punters to help them interpret trainers’ ways and jockeys’ lore. Here are three from yesterday’s racing: When John Gosden says a horse is doubtful because of the ground, he means: This is actually a Group horse running in a handicap; we don’t want to jar him up if there’s no juice in the ground. John, it’s March: there are no summer ‘roads’ like Brighton and Yarmouth in March. We’ve had months of ‘juice’ going into the ground. It’s called an English winter. Richard Hannon, quote, unquote re. the Duty Free in Dubai: ‘Paco Boy will stay.’ The missing words here, Richard, are: ‘at the back.’ No, I agree, that’s facetious. What was really missing from the trainer’s estimation was an understanding of the pace of the race. It contained a front-runner called Gladiatorus, who is a freak: he had already broken the 7f track record and, even if he wasn’t going to last out the nine furlongs yesterday, he was going to burst a lot of lungs along the way, particularly those of suspect stayers. In fact, he caught the jockeys napping but not too much blame can be placed on them, since he came close to another record. Ignore the race altogether regarding Paco Boy: he still has a chance in a sedately-run Lockinge. Finally: ‘The first race (at Doncaster) will tell us where any draw bias is.’ That should read: ‘Once the jockeys fancy there’s a draw bias, almost all will crowd over that side in ensuing straight-course races.’ Doncaster is fairly bland today. A large helping of duff pudding, with one or two exceptions. The English remain frightened of making a big thing of Sunday racing, mindful that there is no terrestrial TV. The Doncaster Shield is no more than a handicap dressed up and, sticking to our theme of interpreting trainers’ minds, if I were Dandy Nicholls, I’d ‘go for it’ with the former Aidan O’Brien pacemaker Hindu Kush, 12.0 on Betdaq this morning. If he were still with O’Brien, Kindu Kush (3.40) would be a short price here after the way he stayed on to be fourth in the St Leger. He went off hard that day and the same tactics – doing a Gladiatorus - could demolish today’s field. Of course, Dandy could be ‘having a look-see.’ But at what? The race contains five horses aged seven and over, old-timers at this level. Why ‘bury’ him in that lot when the prize is his for the taking. From the front. The 6f dash (4.15) looks a minefield built on a swamp, after winners in the last four runnings at 66-1, 40-1 and 16-1 (twice); however, I opened my big mouth when Thebes won at Wolver and said he could be a top sprinter in the making. And didn’t I say something similar when Palace Moon won last summer? Oops! At least we have two lightly-raced four-year-olds running on either side for us, with Thebes in stall 20 and Palace Moon in two. You have to throw in the Hills’ runner, Good Gorsoon; like Prime Defender, he has to be caught early season. And, thankyou very much, he’s drawn in the middle! Early-form trainers are to be followed at this time of year and Pat and Paul Eddery did a steering job in the Brocklesby yesterday: only at a price would I back their Koraleva Tectona (3.05) in such a big field, and 14.5 on the Daq as I write is good enough for a little each way. My best gallops report concerns Orbitor (4.50); he’s been going nicely but I won’t be trapped into big bets on short-priced three-year-olds until the form settles down. Cue the Classic trials at Leopardstown. In that fictitious notebook, it would be written: ‘In Classic trials, ignore last season’s two-year-old form. That was last year. This is this year.’ In each trial today, favourites have won only once in the last four years. In that time, the 1,000 trial has produced two Classic placed and one Guineas winner (2005, Virginia Water). The 2,000 trial has produced only yardsticks. I wouldn’t have Intense Focus (3.00) on my mind for a Classic, and he doesn’t even appeal today: though well exposed, wearing blinkers, and having had some very hard races last year (jockey twice ‘done’ under whip rules), he is such long odds on this morning that I can lay him without much hurt to the bank if he manages to win.
TODAY'S BETS
LAY to win 10pts INTENSE FOCUS (3.00 Leopardstown) BET 1pt win and 1pt place KORALEVA TECTONA (3.05 Doncaster) BET 3pts win and 2pts place HINDU KUSH (3.40 Doncaster) BET 2pts win on each GOOD GORSOON, PALACE MOON and THEBES (4.15 Doncaster) BET 3pts win ORBITOR (4.50 Doncaster)
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