FACTS AND FLAWS ABOUT SATURDAY’S BIG FOUR: They’re calling them the four horses of the apocalypse, the John Gosden trained quartet of stars lined up for Champions Day at Ascot tomorrow. Daqman’s stats point up the quality and the flaws, concerning past performance, going, distance and form.
THE CHAMPIONS DAY GODSEND
£6.34m JOHN GOSDEN ASCOT SATURDAY, going soft (Champions Day): 1.25 Stradivarius (Long Distance Cup), 2.40 Lah Ti Dar, Coronet (Fillies and Mares); 3.15 Roaring Lion (Mile); 3.50 Cracksman, Maverick Wave, Monarchs Glen (Middle Distance), 4.30 Argentello, Tricorn (Balmoral Handicap). The Gosden top four, with their earnings to date:
£2.06m ROARING LION (3.15 Mile; Oisin Murphy)
GOING: form on good to soft: 112
COURSE form: nil
DISTANCE: 111230
GROUP 1: form 203111
ALL races: Seven wins, three places from 11 starts
OFFICIAL RATING: 127
£2.05m CRACKSMAN (3.50 Middle Distance; Frankie Dettori)
GOING: good to soft, soft: 11111
COURSE form: 12
DISTANCE: 1112
GROUP 1: form 32111
ALL races: Seven wins, three places from 10 starts
OFFICIAL RATING: 125 (first-time blinkers)
£1.31m STRADIVARIUS (1.25 Long Distance Cup, Frankie Dettori)
GOING: form on good to soft/soft: 433
COURSE form: 131
DISTANCE: 1311
GROUP 1: form 111
ALL races: Eight wins, three places from 18 starts
BREAK: form after a break 111
OFFICIAL RATING: 120
£0.25m LAH TI DAR (2.40 Fillies and Mares, Frankie Dettori)
GOING: form on good to soft: 1
COURSE form: nil
DISTANCE: 1
GROUP 1: nil
ALL races: 1112
OFFICIAL RATING: 115
OBERON BRED FOR MUD BATH
3.05 Haydock If the ground changes quickly, looking for horses that are suited to the conditions can be very rewarding but, when extreme going is forecast well in advance, you’ll find that trainers will generally enter up only suitable past winners.
So it is that just Dragons Tail, Merhoob and Mr Magyu have so far failed to show on the soft.
The Ayr gold, silver and bronze should be helpful, since all three cup races were run on heavy. Tawny Port, well drawn today, was the ‘moral’ in the Bronze, beaten only a couple of lengths into third, giving 10lb to the winner.
Cold Stare, a winner here at Haydock over 7f, found 6f too fast for him in the Silver and was more than two lengths behind the second horse, Al Qahwa, who is very difficult to win with.
Lord Oberon may be the answer: 3.6 taken on BETDAQ. He was beaten only a neck here at Haydock on good to soft last month but the key to this unexposed sort may be his breeding: sire Mayson loved the mud.
3.35 Haydock Another Mayson, Sod’s Law, will be hard to beat in this one, going for a hat-trick, including success at Pontefract on a softish surface.
Jackpot Royale is trying for a four-timer but has been punished a total of 18lb and is obliged to take a rise in class today.
Haydock CD winner on heavy in September 2017, Fastar was hampered in a bid to win the same race again last month and could finish only third to King’s Pavilion and Storm Ahead.
This level 3 is a drop down one for 7.8 BETDAQ offer Alemaratalyoum, twice a Haydock winner, once on soft in a class 2.
Crownthorpe comes into it but is very hard to win with (never yet on a left-handed track), though first-time cheekpieces may help.
DAQMAN’S BETS (Haydock)
BET 7.5pts win (nap) LORD OBERON (3.05)
BET 3pts win and place ALEMARATALYOUM (3.35)
DAQ MULTIPLES: 1pt win double the two
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