The big betting race of Chester’s May meeting is the feature event as the meeting draws to a close today, and the decision to switch the Chester Cup from the first day to the last looks like another clever move by one of the most shrewdly-run tracks in the country. The Classic trials are all well and good, but the Chester Cup offers spectacle, history and the chance to back a favourite at the sort of price that could pay for your afternoon (or week), and it feels like the right way to bring the meeting to its conclusion.
There is also a theory that this is not quite as difficult a race to work out as a 17-strong field might imply, because even with two circuits of the track to sort themselves out, the draw is still highly significant. Seven of the last 10 winners have been drawn between one and five, and Fun Mac (stall five) and Magic Circle (in six) are both strong in the market this morning as a result.
Despite the unique nature of the test around the tightest major track in the country, it still feels a little odd that the draw should play a role in a race staged over two-and-a-quarter miles. There is little doubt that it does, but it is a factor rather than a defining characteristic, and horses have managed to win from double-figure stalls in the fairly recent past including Trip To Paris from stall 11 in 2015.
Trip To Paris won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot less than two months later, and so was probably fairly well in at Chester off a mark of 95. All the same, it shows that a classy horse can defy a high draw, and Who Dares Wins (3.35) might just be good enough to do the same today.
Ryan Moore has been booked to steer Alan King’s gelding around the Roodee from stall 15, and he will need every ounce of his talent to get Who Dares Wins to the line in front. Were it not for his draw, though, Who Dares Wins would be a very plausible favourite, as he was fourth in this race last year after finding plenty of trouble in running and has been posting some excellent performances over jumps in recent weeks. He was a close third off his jumps mark of 149 in a competitive handicap hurdle at Aintree last month, which suggests that a Flat mark of 100 is still workable. If Moore can work a little magic, 10-1 is too big a price. Eminent, fourth in last year’s Derby, is odds-on to make a successful seasonal debut in the Huxley Stakes, when Oisin Murphy will be the fifth different jockey to ride Martyn Meade’s colt in as many starts. He also finished third in the Irish Champion Stakes and fifth in the Eclipse last season but he has not seen a track since Leopardstown in September and could prove vulnerable to a race-fit rival.
Forest Ranger, a Group Three winner at the Craven meeting, should give him a race and is a big price at 11-2 to make his fitness edge count, while Kachy (4.05) and Dark Red (3.00) should also go close on the same card. Lamloom (6.45) and Jumira Bridge (3.25) should also go well at Nottingham and Lingfield respectively.
Market Rasen 1.30 Ilewin Geez 2.05 Pickamix 2.40 The Blue Bomber 3.15 Just Milly 3.45 Dormouse 4.20 Cafe Au Lait 4.55 Too Much Too Soon 5.30 Encore Champs
Lingfield 1.40 Stoney Broke 2.15 Glitterdust 2.50 Glory Fighter 3.25 Jumira Bridge 3.55 Hateya 4.30 Salute The Soldier 5.05 Hedging
Chester 1.50 Above The Rest 2.25 Forest Ranger 3.00 Dark Red 3.35 Who Dares Wins (nap) 4.05 Kachy 4.40 Rainbow Rebel 5.15 Coeur De Lion
Nottingham 5.10 Dame Gladys 5.40 Raa Atoll 6.15 Worth Waiting 6.45 Lamloom (nb) 7.20 Beatbybeatbybeat 7.50 Birdette 8.25 Billyoakes
Ascot 5.25 Cleonte 6.00 Come On Leicester 6.35 Corgi 7.05 George Of Hearts 7.40 Dreamfield 8.10 Corrosive
Ripon 5.50 Essenza 6.25 Rita’s Man 6.55 Stanhope 7.30 Mordin 8.00 Zig Zag 8.35 Fakhoor
Tips by Greg Wood.
