FOLLOW TRAINERS IN TOP FORM: More Cheltenham bargains on BETDAQ. The promise of festival trials to come. The case for trainers in top form, Donald McCain and Jamie Snowden. The nap at Wetherby. That’s how the Daqman column reads today.


MORE CHELTENHAM BARGAINS

Irish Supreme How would you like Getabird, Sharjah, Mengli Khan, Samcro and more all running for you in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham?

Well, you can get 2.0 an Irish-trained winner in the Cheltenham Supreme Giveaway in the BETDAQ ante-post section. The Irish have won it four years in the last five.

Even if it doesn’t appeal to you as a bet in its own right, taking the 2.0 means you don’t go into the race fully exposed. There’s nothing like a bit of insurance, while you hunt down the big value (on BETDAQ, of course).

Champion prices When there’s a short-priced favourite, like Buveur d’Air in the Champion Hurdle, it’s annoying to see that the bookies don’t take that into account in the rest of the book, but go massively overround.

Compare the BETDAQ bargains for the horses immediately following the favourite in the Champion market:

5.9 Faugheen 2-1 and 3-1 in places with the fixed-odds layers
12.0 Melon 6-1 and 7-1 with 21 different bookmakers
16.0 Yorkhill 4-1 and 5-1 in eight places; single figures with 16 bookies.


THE TRIALS ARE ON TRIAL..

See How They Won 1: Look out on Thursday as Daqman previews the Galmoy Hurdle and the Thyestes Chase, both expected to be cracking trials for Cheltenham and beyond.

Then, on Saturday, Cheltenham features the Triumph Trial, Cotswold Chase and Cleeve Hurdle, all celebrated as festival tests.

See How They Won 2: But just how good are those trials? On Sunday, Daqman continues his series on where the Cheltenham winners come from.


IT’S JUST HIS CUP OF THAIX..

1.30 Leicester Optimus Prince is a natural over fences and the ex-French has won both his chase starts.

He gives plenty of weight to Rayvin Black but gets three years from the one-time top-grade hurdler who was runner-up to Buveur d’Air a year or so ago, and whose only chase start was a disappointment.

2.40 Leicester The Donald McCain revival continues, with his form figures in the last six days 1011141, still standing.

But I think Lastbutnotleast has been lucky to get a steeplechase win on her CV. She was five out of six over hurdles before a problem emerged at Carlisle, first time over fences in early December. She broke a blood vessel.

That she came back with a 36-lengths success at Haydock seems to suggest she turned the corner; treatment for her weakness had worked.

But, in fact, there were only two finishers (three starters) and the race was run so slowly that the ambulance kept lapping them.

Well, not quite that bad. It’s just that Lastbutnotleast jumped slowly on several occasions, the racereader declaring in the Racing Post form: ‘desperately slow jump two out’.

Antarctica De Thaix doesn’t have a very good jumping record but is 212322211142, still standing, and what she wants is a small field slowed down by the poor pace of a fragile opponent.

3.15 Leicester There’s a similar situation here, with the McCain horse, San Pietro, giving four years to Mr Love.

Mr Love is likely to improve on a good round out of the frame at Wetherby on his chasing debut, but is still a maiden in Points, and over hurdles and fences.

San Pietro (back-to-back wins in 2016) could bounce back on his first run for the in-form Donald McCain yard, but the handicapper has ‘given’ the race to Shockingtimes if he can stand up and do the job.

These midweek races are shocking times, indeed, and this one has ‘letters’ (P/FR) not form ‘figures’.

But Jamie Snowden’s beast produced his own shock when winning the Lord Stalbridge Cup at Wincanton two years ago, and was doing the trick again, going well in front at Fontwell in November when he came down.

Hope today rests on the handicapper’s having dropped him 16lb since this time last year, 8lb lower than for that Fontwell run. BETDAQ 5.9 taken.


FORM FIGURES ARE SHOCKING

2.20 Wetherby Jamie Snowden, trainer of Shockingtimes at Leicester (see above), has had ALL his runners in the frame in the last 13 days with returns of 2112113.

He divides his chances – we’ll do the same with our stakes – between that one and Lunar Flow in this race at Wetherby.

Lunar Flow has won his last two starts at Uttoxeter over 3m, one on heavy ground when he was blinkered first time.

The blinds are back on today and he drops back to that trip after an unsuccessful foray into marathons at Exeter in December.

The novice Dick Darsie beat nothing well here at Wetherby on the last day, and Bassarabad meets Bacchanel on similar terms to their one-two at Warwick almost a year ago.

The new wind-surgery declarations show a 25% strike-rate and Bassarabad runs under that banner here.

3.30 Wetherby Catamaran Du Seuil is only 3lb higher than when winning a useful heat at Ayr in November, and his winning rider that day, Brian Hughes, is back on board.

At Wetherby on the last day, he ran second in the class-2 Tommy Whittle at Haydock to the gelding which won this Wetherby race a year ago.

Caraline and Clan Legend are both penalised for scoring in the last month – Caraline over this CD – and both now have to put back-to-back wins together.

DAQMAN’S BETS (staked to win 20 points)
BET 7pts win LUNAR FLOW and 4pts win BASSARABAD (2.20 Wetherby)
BET 12pts win ANTARTICA DU THAIX (2.40 Leicester)
BET 4pts win SHOCKINGTIMES (3.15 Leicester)
BET 12pts win (nap) CATAMARAN DU SEUIL (3.30 Wetherby)
DAQ MULTIPLES: 3 x 3pt win doubles and 1pt win treble OPTIMUS PRINCE (1.30 Leicester), ANTARTICA DU THAIX (2.40 Leicester), CATAMARAN DU SEUIL (3.30 Wetherby)


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