The meat in the sandwich of the May Festival from Chester comes in the form of Boodles Ladies Day, an opportunity for the fairer sex to don their finery and enjoy an action-packed day of racing.
And they should be treated to a decent day, with the card bookended by the Gateley PLC sponsored Handicap Stakes at 2:10pm and the T&L Leasing Handicap Stakes at 5:25pm.
Perhaps the standout feature races are the Betway Huxley Stakes (2:40pm), the Chester Vase (3:10pm) and the second renewal of the Boodles Diamond Handicap Stakes (3:45pm); this time for runners rated 86-100.
The Betway Huxley Stakes
It is last year’s runner up in the Huxley Stakes, Cannock Chase, that will attract most of the attention in the paddock this time around.
A Grade One winner already this term, the five-year-old has only finished outside the money places once in 13 outings, although as the 9-7 top weight he will be giving a significant amount of weight away to the rest of the field. That will be of concern to supporters of this Sir Michael Stoute trained chaser.
Maverick Wave, the John Gosden fancy, won this race last year and the trainer has another who is expected to go well this time around in the shape of Western Hymn. Already a winner over Cannock Chase, he has also tasted defeat five times to the favourite here in the past.
Finally, Chain of Daisies, with four wins from six starts, has triumphed on good-to-soft in the past and in 4/5 over this 10f mark, so if she can make the step up in class she could be involved in the shake-up.
The MBNA Chester Vase
Renowned Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has bagged a hat-trick in this race, winning every renewal since 2013 with Ruler of the World, Orchestra and Hans Holbein respectively.
It’s no surprise to learn he is aiming for victory here once again with a five-pronged attack, and the early favourite for the Investec Derby, US Army Ranger, is the pick of the bunch. Born from quality operator Galileo, this three-year-old powered to victory on his only start to date at Curragh in April.
Major competition should be expected from the prolific John Gosden-William Buick team-up however. Linguistic won last time out at Newmarket and is expected to enjoy the longer 12f trip here. Keep an eye out for Idaho too; another much-fancied O’Brien protégé.
Boodles Diamond Handicap
With four wins on the spin, Time Warp is as convincing as any in this field. He has triumphed on good-to-soft already in his short career, and is one from two at this short 7f stretch. His trainer Sir Mark Prescott has had his issues with handicapping, but the three-year-old looks ready for a breakout win.
Elsewhere Arcanada is of interest having won at Chester before and at 7f, and coming from a reasonably in-form Tom Dascombe yard is noteworthy. A brace of wins accompany Storm Rising to Chester, and with Ryan Moore on board there is every chance that could become a hat-trick. And with four money placings from six starts, Comicas – from the vaunted Charlie Appleby yard and with Buick taking the reins – will surely enjoy the good going expected from a week’s good weather in the north of England (should the forecast be correct of course!).
