DAQMAN on Sunday

Sunday 8 November DAQMAN  LAYS RUN ENDS WITH 14 OUT OF 16: Lays-king Daqman’s daring was his undoing at Santa Anita last night but his amazing sequence of 14 out of 16 lays (88% correct) was another lesson in betting tactics only available on Betdaq.   300 TARGET: His unbeaten run ended at 13, so his record still stands at 16 consecutive paper favourites beaten. He now needs seven to reach 300 successful lays. DAQMAN’S GEMS: As he did last year at this time, Daqman concentrates on unearthing the ‘gems’ and the ‘nuggets’, the potential stars of the jumps and the value bets hidden among the hundreds of runners between now and the New Year that will provide the thrills of Cheltenham and Punchestown next Spring. The Las shall be Ffos as we face drab days after seeing the stars of a sensational Flat season but, don’t worry, it’s less than three weeks to the Hennessy and only 123 shopping-for-value-on-Betdaq days before Cheltenham.  As last year, I will spend my time looking for the ‘gems’, quality horses with festival targets that are hidden away in the huge entries that make up the novice hurdles and beginners’ chases of the next few weeks. Roberto Goldback is today’s. In fact, the Navan card, where this one runs, may contain several gems, linked to certain stables. Edward O’Grady, for instance, is three out of nine in the ‘For Auction’ Novice Hurdle (1.25), having recently used this race to launch Clopf and Muircheartaigh. His able protégée today is Judge Roy Bean. The beginners chase (3.00) has gone seven seasons out of 10 to either Noel Meade (three wins since 2003) or Arthur Moore (four since 1999). Here they are again with Realt Dubh and Indian Buck, respectively. This is where my gem is, the aforesaid Roberto Goldback. By the excellent Bob Back, a sire of 650 winners, and a son of Derby winner Roberto, Jessica Harrington’s seven-year-old has matured during his long holiday over the summer and taken well to fences in his schooling. He has always looked the part and has the class, as when fifth, handy all the way, in the Puncheston novice-hurdle championship won by Mikael d’Haguenet, who had earlier seen off Realt Dubh (seventh) in the Ballymore at Cheltenham. All eyes are on Osana, Cheltenham Champion Hurdle runner-up moved from David Pipe to Edward O’Grady; it’s all down to which one takes his fences best, and which stable has them bang-on fit and jumping well. O’Grady, with a better than 50% win-and-place strike-rate, is some way in front of Jessica Harrington, with Noel Meade seemingly struggling to find his form, with just two wins from his last 34 starters. Leaving out the Meade then, and concerned that Osana is too often the bridesmaid – five seconds to the one win in his last eight outings, albeit against star names – I shall hope that the new ‘Roberto’ will live up to his home reputation. That would see a flurry of interest in him for Cheltenham but be well warned about taking early prices in novice events; January is the earliest time for that sort of madness. To be fair to Osana, I’ve been back through his CV and my studies suggest that what he’s needed all along is a trip; he may do better, then, over longer distances but, of course, he has to start out over the championship 2m, as must they all: Cheltenham and Punchestown title options must be tested; you have to have all your options open at this stage. And we shouldn’t forget that there are others of interest in today’s races: we might end the day taking not one, but several, gems out of the card. Another reason why O’Grady will want Osana to excel at 2m is that he already has Catch Me (3.30) on a trajectory for the 20-furlong-plus chases; the Hattons Grace winner made a fine start to fencing at Cork. With Judge Roy Bean, Osana and Catch Me, O’Grady should know a lot more about his festival chances by the end of the day and, with his stable in form, many a professional will be playing stop-at-a-winner with such a triptych of gems from one yard on one card. A more modest potential for the novice hurdle and chase ranks in England today is said to rest with Mille Chief (1.20 Market Rasen), a French recruit for Alan King. This one made all the running when winning over nine furlongs and free-going sorts are suited to this tight track, so the placement looks like a shrewd move. The Eustace yard is 100% on this track (three from three), had a winner last week, so is in some kind of form, and has improved Karky Schultz (2.25) race by race. I took a bit of 10.5. A nugget. Venetia Williams had no choice but to strike while the proverbial iron is hot with Cartier Opera at her local Hereford (1.30). Disregard his 7lb penalty, since he is only 2lb higher here than for his easy win at Towcester on Thursday. He came up that track’s notorious hill with his head in his chest, so the extra trip should hold no worries and Particle, his nearest rival in the market, has his prone-to-errors jumping to sort out. Ffos is Las on my agenda, which is back to the beginning of today’s column and the Irish gems: Arthur Moore has an important day at Navan but sends his improving Francis Du Mesnil (2.45) to Welsh Wales looking for better ground and a bit of the McCoy magic. It’s a tough ‘ask’ off a 10lb higher mark but, then, Bermuda Point (drifter this morning) is also 10lb above his last winning mark; the favourite Dev has failed 10 times since missing out a season through injury; and, though his stable is in form, Sou’Wester, who goes well fresh, didn’t go well fresh when he reappeared a fortnight ago. McCoy has several fancied rides today but the fitness and strength of the man in never-say-die mode has to be seen to be believed; Francis Du Mesnil – and we hungry punters – may benefit from that.
TODAY'S BETS
BET 3pts win MILLE CHIEF (1.20 Market Rasen) BET 6pts win (nap) JUDGE ROY BEAN (1.25 Navan) BET 4pts win CARTIER OPERA (1.30 Hereford) BET 1pt win and place KARKY SCHULTZ (2.25 Market Rasen) BET 2pts win and place FRANCIS DU MESNIL (2.45 Ffos Las) BET 3pts win and place ROBERTO GOLDBACK (3.00 Navan) DAQ MULTIPLES: 3 x 1pt win doubles Judge Roy Bean (1.25 Navan), Cartier Opera (1.30 Hereford) and Catch Me (3.30 Navan). We are now recording the daily profit and loss of DAQMAN to help readers gauge the current form of the service. We will provide the profit / loss on the previous day to a £1 level stake on each selection (eg: a 5 point bet = a £5 stake). In the interests of consistency the profit / loss will be recorded at SP prices, however BETDAQ users can reasonably expect to beat SP in the majority of races. Friday's Return was: PROFIT 19.5 points
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