7/4 SUPERNAP STRIKE: DAQMAN landed his SUPERNAP last night with THE TIN MAN (WON 7/4) in the Listed sprint at Windsor. It turned the day into a profit of 23.05 points using DAQMAN’s famous staking plan. He really is the wizard of odds!
GOSDEN AGAIN THE MAN IN THE OAKS SPOTLIGHT: Daqman yesterday knocked the whole Guineas myth on the head as far as the Derby is concerned. Now he checks out the final Classic trials at Goodwood on Thursday and Friday this week, and finds that John Gosden is again the man to watch for the Oaks. Daqman picked his Enable to win last year.
GOODWOOD IS LAST-CHANCE SALOON
The fat lady doesn’t sing until Friday afternoon. We’re almost done with the Derby and the Oaks trials but Goodwood this week is last-chance saloon for both.
It hasn’t played out that way for the colts since Troy landed the Predominate Stakes (now Friday’s Cocked Hat Stakes) and went on to win the 1979 Derby.
Geoff Wragg’s Asian Heights might have doubled up Goodwood and the 2001 Derby but was injured winning the Cocked Hat, and Rewilding (2010) finished third at Epsom and was a better horse later on.
How fares the old Lupe Stakes on Thursday for the Oaks? It seems to give part of the answer away in its modern title, the Height Of Fashion Stakes, but in fact Her Majesty’s eponymous filly actually swerved the Oaks to run – and win – at Royal Ascot instead.
Snow Fairy did the Goodwood-Epsom double in 2010, though Newmarket’s Pretty Polly Stakes has taken over as the nonpareil Oaks trial.
John Gosden trained Taghrooda (2014) to do the double the year after Talent did the same trick for Ralph Beckett.
Now the punter’s godsend has Lah Ti Dar favourite to follow up an easy Pretty Polly win but in an increasingly strong looking Oaks on the first day of June.
Gosden’s Oaks winner of last season, Enable, went to Epsom from winning the Cheshire Oaks, which Aidan O’Brien took this year with Magic Wand.
O’Brien also has Newmarket 1,000 Guineas placed Happily at the forefront of the Epsom market, though she is favourite for the Curragh 1,000 on Sunday.
The Guineas at Newmarket and at the Curragh have not kickstarted many Oaks winners but O’Brien did it with Minding (2016), while Qualify flopped in both 1,000 Classics before scoring for him at Epsom.
CHARLIE PAPA LIMA = NOVEMBER ALPHA PAPA
5.45 Ayr It’s one of those days today – the best bet on the card for me falls in the closing long distance handicap for lady amateur riders.
Serena Brotherton excels in these races and looks to have a first class chance here with Carthage in a tightly banded handicap.
His trainer Michael Appleby has hit form with three winners from his last 11 runners and Carthage should be fully tuned up for this having finished second on his slightly unorthodox seasonal reappearance on the Island of Guernsey, which was his first run for the new stable having previously been trained Brian Ellison.
He’s dropped a further 1lb in the weights and should run a big race.
Favourite is Irish raider Northern Sky who has gone close on his last two starts but they have come on testing ground and his overall 1-15 profile is disappointing.
7.40 Huntingdon Charlie Papa Lima looks thrown in here on the strength of his ‘moral’ victory, giving 10lb but beaten less than two lengths by Tikkinthebox at Taunton in April, for which he was put up 4lb.
But meanwhile Tikkinthebox has shot up a total of 17lb, following up the Taunton success by storming home 11 lengths at Wincanton, despite giving the runner-up 15lb.
9.00 Hexham This is a class 5 in name but in reality it looks a lot worse. Bottom line is it won’t take much winning and I thought Hey Listen looks a good bet to round off the day.
The Lucinda Russell trained top weight is up 5lb for finishing a close second in a much better race at Perth last month and won’t get a better chance than this to win his first race over hurdles.
DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 points)
BET 5.2pts win CARTHAGE (5.45 Ayr)
BET 13.1pts win (nap) CHARLIE PAPA LIMA (7.40 Huntingdon)
BET 6.6pts win HEY LISTEN (9.00 Hexham)
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