Following on from the excitement of the Guineas meeting at Newmarket last weekend, the flat racing action continues at pace this week with the Boodles May Festival from Chester.
Starting on Wednesday May 4 with the Betway sponsored Chester Cup Day, proceedings commence with the Lily Agnes Stakes (2:10pm), and here the bookmakers’ favourite Fiery Character – available at 13/8 with Paddy Power– looks a fine prospect if her debut was anything to go by. Starting at 33/1, she led from the front from the off, and on the good-to-soft terrain expected at Chester too. Enticing indeed.
The next dish on the menu is the Cheshire Oaks (2:45pm), where all the talk will surely be about the early ante-post favourite Somehow. Available from 11/10 with bet365, this three-year-old has the revered team of Ryan Moore on board and Aidan O’ Brien on training duties. She may be the bottom weight here, but after storming to victory at Leopardstown last time out on soft ground many will be getting involved now before the SP surely falls on race day.
At 3:10pm attention turns to the eponymous Chester Cup, the outstanding feature on day one of the festival. There’s a stacked field here but more statistical trends and insights than you can shake a stick at….good news for erstwhile punters.
A nice draw has often been a feature in these unique Chester conditions, and eight of the most recent winners have been drawn in stall 11 or lower – a handy ‘in’. Generally winners have weighed between 8-11 and 9-4, with the occasional anomaly, and been aged from four to seven. As far as ratings are concerned, a decent number have gone off between 88 and 99, and finally only one favourite has won in the past decade.
So, with this in mind, we managed to whittle the field down to four potential candidates: Steve Rogers, William of Orange, Le Maitre Chat and Min Alemarat. It is the former who will start favourite – as short as 13/8 in some quarters – and with a draw in stall three will be much fancied.
Steve Rogers has already triumphed at Chester and warmed up for an assault on glory here with a victory at Kempton last time out, however there are a few question marks. The five-year-old has only one start over this 18f stretch, finishing ninth of thirty-four in the Cesarewitch back in October – a renewal in which another eye-catcher here, Le Maitre Chat, came in sixth. Another on our shortlist, William of Orange, was completely outclassed in that race and finished at the tail end of the field.
The favourite has picked up three wins from six in the past calendar year, and that for alone will garner plenty of support, and while Le Maitre Chat’s last win came way back in August 2014 he has six finishes in the money places in twelve starts; and that will please each way punters. At 14/1 with SkyBet, many will be willing to give the five-year-old a chance.
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed herein are that of the author and not necessarily those of Hello Punter, and should not be taken as betting advice. No bets are guaranteed, and you may lose more money than you get back. Please gamble responsibly.
