33-1 AMONG TWO DAQMAN PLACE HITS: After three winners on Sunday, Daqman had two more yesterday.. yet they were only placed! It was a sensational lesson from the maestro tipster in big-odds outsiders where the BETDAQ place is as good as a win. His profit in two days is now 58 points.
WIN Voltaic 3rd 33-1
WIN Dark Invader 2nd 8-1 (beaten a short head)
ASCOT COUNTDOWN: SEE HOW THEY WON: Daqman looks at next Tuesday’s opening day at Royal Ascot, with stats and facts one week ahead to help you with your ante-post BETDAQ bets. Where did the Ascot winners come from?
FOLLOW ASCOT YOUNG BLOODS
Reality check. Royal Ascot is no country for old men. And winners rarely come from social runners.
Those factors alone will help you cut the Royal Ascot cards down to size, eliminating horses in the betting that really shouldn’t be at the track for one reason or another.
Social runners are there because owners want to be seen to have a horse taking part at the royal meeting.
Weed them out and you could end up with several underround books on BETDAQ, where the markets always open with a very low percentage against you.
One negative is age. Old faithfuls they may be, but these horses are yesterday’s heroes, yesterday’s news. Put them out to grass.
2.30 Royal Ascot, (Queen Anne Stakes, next Tuesday) No horse over the age of five has won in over 40 years! Not a one. Four-year-olds are 13-5 up on five-year-olds this century.
So the seven-year-old Lightning Spear is place-only material again after running second twice in the Lockinge, last year losing ground on Ribchester, who went on to complete the double in the Queen Anne.
It was the fifth time in the decade that the Newbury race had provided the Queen Anne winner: three had won the Lockinge, with two unplaced in it.
Next Tuesday it’s a complete rerun of the Lockinge, won this year by Rhododendron! Study that result carefully to see if you can find a bit of BETDAQ value but be warned that 11-2 was the maximum SP in the decade.
3.05 Royal Ascot, (Coventry Stakes, next Tuesday) Two of Aiden O’Brien’s three winners of this in the last seven years had won the Marble Hill Stakes on the road to their Ascot success.
Though this season’s Marble Hill was won not by O’Brien but by Jessica Harrington with Brother Bear, Ballydoyle has the favourite.
He is Sergei Prokofiev, sired by Scat Daddy, whose son Justify has just won the American Triple Crown.
Second in the market at a tasty 6.2 on BETDAQ, Legends Of War was as low as 7-2 and 4-1 in many places with bookmakers this morning.
3.40 Royal Ascot (Kings Stand Stakes, next Tuesday) Three-year-olds used to do well in this, and that seemed to be revived last year when Lady Aurelia won, first second-season animal to score since Equiano (2008).
Now a third of the 30 left in at this stage are three-year-olds trying to stop back-to-back success by Lady Aurelia, though her main rival seems to be Battaash, the 2017 winner of the Prix de l’Abbaye, the European sprint championship. It’s 9.0 bar the two on BETDAQ this morning.
4.20 Royal Ascot, (St James’s Palace Stakes, next Tuesday) Only two winners in the decade have been bigger than 5-2, which is currently around the best offer about Without Parole on BETDAQ (3.65). This is the only Daqman banker I have revealed at this stage.
STAYING IN THE LIMELIGHT
2.00 Salisbury Soccer star of the Seventies Mick Channon, who has had 15 turf two-year-old winners this year (32%), appears to have even this big field sorted.
The overnight gamble with the bookies (20-1 to 10-1) against his so-easy Redcar winner, Certain Lad, drawn 14, was stablemate Dr Smolder (stall 3), who has been working with some of those Channon winners at West Ilsley.
With one in each corner of the draw, Mick, who played 46 times for England and scored 21 goals, could have have given himself yet another penalty kick with his two-year-olds.
Certain Lad was 4.1 on BETDAQ this morning, with Dr Smolder 11.0 for another Daqman win-win situation if we stake one for a win only and one for a win and a big place hit. Back of the net!
5.45 Thirsk Stay In The Light should be suited by the faster ground and looks on a winning handicap mark (57) at the moment.
The Karl Burke trained filly was struggling on the all-weather earlier in the year but showed her first sign of ability on good to firm ground at Redcar when third to If We Can Can.
She followed that up by finishing fourth at Lingfield over this trip and was only beaten around a length.
It’s quite possible that she can find some further improvement as the going and trip look ideal.
Champarisi was beaten a fair way when fourth at York last time out and I’m struggling to see how this 1m 4f trip will suit her as her only previous success came over a mile at Newcastle. However, the booking of Paul Hanagan is a positive.
At bigger odds, Iconic Code could be an improver for running on better ground. She was well beaten at Nottingham on soft ground on her seasonal reappearance but has gained no respite from the handicapper which she may need as she looks a little high.
8.50 Lingfield I’m not sure I want to be taking too short a price about the top weight Astute Boy in the finale.
He’s met with defeats at 4/1, 11/4 and 11/10 since winning at Yarmouth (when trained by Ed Vaughan) and is totally unproven over this marathon trip.
Lake Shore Drive was my original alternative with proven stamina but he’s now a non runner and second favourite The Secrets Out also has stamina doubts.
The chips will now be placed on Fitzwilly who is a proven stayer and running back into form. His trainer Mick Channon (back to where I started) has saddled 7 winners from his last 30 runners.
DAQMAN’S BETS (all bets staked to win 20 points)
BET 6.45pts win CERTAIN LAD (2.00 Salisbury)
BET 2.0pts win and 10.3pts place DR SMOLDER (2.00 Salisbury)
BET 10.4pts win (nap) STAY IN THE LIGHT (5.45 Thirsk)
BET 3.7pts win FITZWILLY (8.50 Lingfield)
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