SATURDAY TRIO WITH BIG FUTURES: Daqman puts up three flyers today for racing on Saturday right through to the Cheltenham Festival and maybe even the Derby next June!

17.5 AND 14.5 OUTSIDERS FANCIED: Big offers in the handicaps at 8.8, 14.5 and 17.5 at Yarmouth and Kempton tempt Daqman today but he opens with a nap at Newcastle.


FRODON EARLY CHELTENHAM FLYER

FRODON Those who’ve watched my twice-napped Cliffs Of Dover pinging round Kempton and Wincanton would be forgiven for expecting him to be the talk of Ditcheat for jumping ability, and he surely is.

But the jaw-dropper in the Paul Nicholls yard in this department is Frodon, who can choose between two chases at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Frodon, by the same sire (Nickname) as Paul’s Ayr Champion Novice, Le Mercurey, jumped ‘like a natural’ and ‘like a stag’, if you want both the jockey’s and the stable-lad’s view of his prowess.

Frodon goes to Cheltenham because, though a novice, he has been aimed at a Cup race on the course in November. Then, after a break over Christmas, he’ll be wound up for the festival.

I’m aiming five months ahead there, so why not into next Spring and summer with a huge outsider for the Classics. Here he is..

FINN McCOOL One of six Aidan O’Brien two-year-olds now declared for Saturday’s Racing Post Trophy (see my article yesterday), this big immature type has the look of one of those who suddenly take off late in their first season.

In the last 11 years, the trophy has been won by three rank outsiders: Palace Episode, 20-1 in 2005; Authorized 25-1 in 2006 and Marcel 33-1 in 2015.

Authorized, who went on to win the Dante and the Epsom Derby, will also be remembered on Saturday when his son, Hartnell, bids for a prestigious Aussie double in the Cox Plate preliminary to the Melbourne Cup.

HARTNELL Mark Johnston’s Ascot Vase (2014) winner Hartnell, who has taken five Group races in Australia for Godolphin and their handler John O’Shea, could clash with 12-in-a-row-winner Winx (repeat TWELVE), in the Cox Plate on Saturday en route to Hartnell’s Melboune Cup bid on November 1.

It would be no disgrace to be beaten by Winx, since the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley – a renowned stepping stone to the big one at Flemington – is 6f shorter than the two-mile cup.

But great Group horses beyond sprint distances are so few in Oz that they play at all trips, and the last time Winx and Hartnell met was over 7f at Randwick.

Winx won easily but Hartnell, who is a big improver and has more stamina, as his Ascot days suggest, was giving 4lb to the winner that day.


THE FORCE BE WITH YOU AT 17.5

2.30 Newcastle Anything today, I ask my contacts. Answer: you must be joking! We face low-level races, many big fields, a bevy of two-year-olds.

Anything Today could be a standout. Hugo Palmer (3-5) has a 60% strike rate with two-year-olds here. Badly drawn and slow away but finished well at Salisbury on the debut.

2.20 Yarmouth Jamie Spencer is 5-8 (63%) for David Simcock, and Vista Steppe looks tasty at 8.8. in the BETDAQ orange after the required maidens puts her in a handicap here, getting a few pounds from the field.

3.50 Yarmouth Harwoods Volante is well drawn and a nice price – at 9.0 on BETDAQ early mouse – under Frankie Dettori to make up for narrow defeats the last twice.

The worry backing a three-year-old is the soft ground: Hope Cove (in gate 1) has run reasonably well with cut. Menai’s two wins have both been on firm, albeit his yard is in top gear right now (four from eight) and Menai is switched from Newcastle: 6.6 on BETDAQ.

Though 14.5-offered Quick Look (stall 6) has raced on top of the ground so far, his sire has his best wins-to-runs record on heavy. Santorini is well drawn and has scored recently on good to soft but you worry – as you do with Saucy Spirit – that he’s had only one run, and second run tells all.

8.10 Kempton You have a similar choice (three-year-olds or older horses) in this class 4, in which all the fancied horses, barring Mountain Rescue, are drawn wide.

Luca Cumani and Pat Cosgrave are 3-3 when they team up but Cryptic is out in 10, after landing back-to-back wins from stalls 4 and 5.

The one I like is Frozen Force, 17.5 on BETDAQ under Jim Crowley. Though he’s won at his recent trip of 1m 2f, he has looked recently as if this return to a mile will help, and last-day winners are always there to be shot at down at this level.

DAQMAN’S BETS (staked 1 to 9 for strength)
BET 3pts win and place VISTA STEPPE (2.20 Yarmouth)
BET 9pts win (nap) ANYTHING TODAY (2.30 Newcastle)
BET 2.5pts win and place HARWOODS VOLANTE, and 1.5pts win and place QUICK LOOK, plus 1.5pts (stakes saver) MENAI (3.50 Yarmouth)
BET 2pts win and place FROZEN FORCE (8.10 Kempton)


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