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It’s the final day of the Chester May meeting featuring the 2m2½f Chester Cup with seventeen runners declared.
It's the final day of the Chester May meeting featuring the 2m2½f Chester Cup with seventeen runners declared.
Course form is always an advantage for the unique test of Chester and current favourite Call My Bluff has placed on all three runs at the track, including a win over two miles. He was second in the course and distance Chester Plate last year and was second on seasonal reappearance at Newbury.
Falcon Eight is the joint highest rated horse in the field with Rajinsky and holds that valuable course and distance form. He won this contest in 2021 and put in another solid performance when fifth in the race last year. The eight-year-old was campaigned over hurdles over the winter and was last seen finishing down the field in a Leopardstown handicap hurdle.
Rajinsky is best known for lowering the colours of Trueshan when winning the Listed Further Flight Stakes at Nottingham on seasonal reappearance but was soundly beaten in the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes at Ascot subsequently. Winner of the Cesarewitch Trial Handicap at Newmarket in September, he is in the unfortunate position of falling short at Group level. The weight may be a tough ask for him.
Calling The Wind has a nice profile coming into this contest with proven form on soft ground. The track would be an unknown as he has never raced here, but he was only beaten one length into fourth in an All-Weather Championships Fast-Track Qualifier at Wolverhampton on reappearance. His third behind Sagaro Stakes winner Coltrane in the Listed Coral Marathon at Sandown looks a nice piece of form.
Harry Fry's Metier is better known for his exploits over hurdles and is potentially unexposed in Flat contests. He was a winner of the 1m4f November Handicap at Doncaster before struggling back over hurdles in December. His reappearance second in the Queen's Cup at Musselburgh would put him firmly in the mix.
WIN: CALLING THE WIND
In the 1m2½f Huxley Stakes, Aidan O'Brien's Point Lonsdale looks potentially difficult to beat. The yard has enjoyed multiple winners at the Chester meeting and this form could be set to continue. Raced once as a three-year-old, Point Lonsdale was a high-class juvenile and returned after a lengthy absence with a win in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes at the Curragh. He wouldn't have enjoyed the heavy ground conditions on that occasion and even Chester's soft surface would be an improvement.
His main opposition looks likely to be top-class handicapper Mujtaba, who is attempting to make the transition into Group company. He recorded an impressive seven length victory in the 1m2f Horris Hill School Handicap at Newbury in October and is an exciting prospect at this level for trainer William Haggas.
Foxes Tale was a Group 3 winner in 2021 and looked back to somewhere near his best when scoring by three lengths in the Listed Magnolia Stakes on the all-weather at Kempton. Although he would have to improve again, he may be able to give Point Lonsdale something to think about.
WIN: POINT LONSDALE