10-1 CHAMPION HURDLE WIN BOOSTS DAQMAN PROFITS TO 232: Daqman took his weekend profit to 232 points with his third winning bull’s-eye bet (win 50) yesterday, a right royal 10-1 strike in the Welsh Champion Hurdle, after two champions-day hits at Ascot on Saturday:

Sunday: Profit on the day 35.25
WON 10-1 SCEAU ROYAL (bull’s-eye bet Welsh Champion Hurdle)
WON 9-2 LOCKER ROOM TALK (from 6.4 BETDAQ)

Saturday: Profit on the day 197.20
✅ WON 9-1 ADDEYBB (Fortune Cookie)
WON 5-1 THE REVENANT (bull’s-eye bet at 7.4 BETDAQ)
✅ WON 4-1 WONDERFUL TONIGHT (bull’s-eye 5.8 BETDAQ)

THAT TAKES HIM INTO A 500-POINTS LEAD OVER PRICEWISE: Sceau Royal’s success widened the gap between Daqman and Pricewise to more than 500 points, as Daqman moved one winner short of the 50 against his arch rival. The score is 49-29, with Daqman up +311.86 and Pricewise now down -207.84

👑 TODAY: THE KINGMAKER RACES: Still hungry for more – he wants the 50 up to crown the season – Daqman looks ahead to two kingmaker races, one part of the Flat finale, the other a launching pad for top irish jumpers.


FUTURITY: LAST 2yo BATTLEGROUND

⚠️ HEADS UP: There are two kingmaker races to come in the next two Saturdays that have continually changed the face of the form, Flat and Jumps, the first one on Saturday at Doncaster.

FLAT: 2.55 Doncaster, Saturday, October 24 (Futurity Trophy) It gets better every year. The season’s final test for two-year-olds has produced five Derby heroes, four of them this century.

But Saturday’s winner will also be going for a four-timer for the Futurity in the 2,000 Guineas of 2021 after a hat-trick in the season’s first Classic with Aidan O’Brien’s Saxon Warrior (2018) and the less likely 11-2 and 10-1 shots which floored two mighty favourites, the put-on-a-pedestal Pinatubo and the unbeaten Ten Sovereigns.

They were Magna Grecia (2018), also for O’Brien, and Andrew Balding’s Kameko (2019), who came back in tremendous style in late September to confirm his status.

This century the Futurity has opened the Classic door for High Chaparral (2002 Derby), Motivator (2005 Derby), Authorized (2007 Derby) and Camelot (2012 Derby).

Guineas or Derby, you – and I – can’t afford to miss the Futurity, if we are going to stay ahead of the game.

The FORTUNE COOKIES have four possibilities for the race: Battleground, High Definition, Thunder Moon and Wembley. Watch this space.

JUMPS: 2.25 Down Royal, Saturday October 31 (Ladbrokes Champion Chase) This race has had incredible success since its inception in 1999, and is part of Daqman lore, as we tipped Foxchapel King (2001) and Don Cossack (2015).

Champions poured from the race ever since Florida Pearl took the first ever running on the way to four Irish Hennessy Gold Cups and a King George.

The very next year, the race had its first Gold Cup winner, Looks Like Trouble, but by no means its last.

Kauto Star won it twice, either side of his 2009 Gold Cup and it was part of Don Cossack’s haul as Irish NH horse of the year in 2015 in the autumn before his 2016 gold.

We need a new FORTUNE COOKIES list in time for this and a great 2020-21 Jumps season. Layers, it looks like trouble!


ROSS OVER THE 17 LENGTH WINNER!

⭕ 1.45 Pontefract (Silver Tankard Stakes) There’s a north / south divide in the feature at Pontefract this afternoon – a Listed event over a mile.

The two last time out winners dominate the market on the BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.

Preference is for southern raider The Rosstafarian who made a winning debut over this trip at Salisbury earlier in the month and looked pretty useful when winning by 4 1/4 lengths. The placed horses have yet to reappear but third placed Moktasaab had previously ran well on debut in a better race at Doncaster and The Rosstafarian can only improve.

Palmer’s Newmarket stable is currently running an exceptional strike-rate of 7 winners from their last 25 runners and going into today their last three runners have all won!

The northern challenge is headed up (rather predictably) by a Mark Johnston trained runner in Naamoos who could be the reincarnation of Pegasus if his Beverley win is taken at face value. He stormed home by 17 lengths to win a novice event for which he went off a 4/11 favourite.

He’s clearly improved bundles since his Wolverhampton debut but the concern for me is that it was quick ground at Beverley and soft here at Pontefract – if he’s equally effective on soft then he really is something special but I’m more in the camp of taking that 17 length win with a prescription of a pinch of salt. It was also a weak event and this is much tougher.

Ben Curtis bids to make it 150 for the season at Pontefract this afternoon and has every chance of doing it from his four promising rides.

He partners Mystery Angel here who brings experience to the table and was far from disgraced when third in the Group 3 Zetland at Newmarket last time out – despite being eventually beaten nearly nine lengths. She drops back two furlongs and that looks a smart move but she is probably, on balance, vulnerable to the progressive horses mentioned above.

Ralph Beckett enjoys a 14-31 strike-rate with his runners at ‘Ponty’, so on the stat alone his only runner of the day Iconic Queen merits a second glance.

This will be the most testing ground she has experienced – she is also up in a trip and this is a testing mile here. Her Newmarket nursery fifth last time out was fair enough but the longer trip doesn’t immediately leap off the page as a positive after that effort.


KIRKUP TO RELISH POLE POSITION

4.20 Pontefract Low numbers are the angle at Pontefract over the minimum trip when the going is soft or heavy.

Best drawn of all is John Kirkup who drops back to this trip for the first time since 2018 but should relish both the ground and the stiff finish.

The caution would be he has been a beaten favourite in his last two races but ran out of steam over six at Ayr last time out on heavy and was previously beaten on the same track on good ground.

There’s enough for me to think he is worth another chance with pole draw, distance and ground all with big ticks in the boxes.


STILL ON CLOUD NINE

⭕ 8.30 Wolverhampton If Tom Marquand is still on cloud nine after the weekend, who could blame him? He can start the new week with a winner here on Ajyaall

Marquand has a 38% strike-rate when combining with William Haggas and Ajyaall can be forgiven his last run when completely blowing the start.

He appeals more than Kempton wide margin winner Driving Force.

DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 10 points)
BET 6.9pts win (nap) THE ROSSTAFARIAN (1.45 Pontefract)
BET 1.7pts win JOHN KIRKUP (4.20 Pontefract)
BET 5.5pts win AJYAALL (8.30 Wolverhampton)


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.


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