The horse racing broadcaster provides his tips for Chester's May meeting, including his pick for the feature race of the day, the Chester Cup.
The final day of Chester’s May meeting with the signature handicap of the week, the Chester Cup as the feature.
Ireland won back-to-back renewals in 2021 and 2022 and have a particularly strong contingent this time around, spearheaded by Joseph O’Brein. He saddles three in Galileo Dame, Puturhandstogether and A PIECE OF HEAVEN 6/1 (15:05 Chester).
The draw makes things tricky for Puturhandstogether drawn right out in 17, whilst Galileo Dame’s chances would be massively improved by a significant amount of rain arriving on Thursday as she handles deep ground well. So the pick of the trio looks to be A Piece of Heaven, who has been handed the plum berth in stall one.
Since the Chester Cup was moved to Friday having traditionally been on the opening day, it has led to a somewhat bizarre adjustments to the track configuration as the week progresses. In order to maximise the width, and hence the number of runners in the Cup, the rail is moved steadily in during the week, revealing a fresh strip of ground on the inside each day. This accentuates the benefit of travelling close to the inside, especially if rain has fallen on the churned-up part of the track. It also means that by Friday the cutaway is removed so it is harder to gain racing room off the final bend. A low drawn handy racing runner therefore very much has things in their favour, and A Piece of Heaven very much fits that profile along with the added bonus of the recently returned Dylan Browne McMonagle taking over from a 7lb claimer.
The highest‑grade race on Day 3 is the Huxley Stakes, but with so many horses’ participation likely dependent on how much rain falls in the preceding 24 hours, which at the time of writing means the shape of the race is far from clear, there are better options elsewhere on the card.
First of those is EL BURHAN 9/2 (13:30 Chester), who can win for the Bow Echo combination of Billy Loughnane and George Boughey. He won at the meeting last year over a shorter trip but proved he stays 10f well when winning under Loughnane at Ayr. He is 6lb higher for that success but should strip fitter than on his seasonal return at Kempton and has the potential to make a mark in Pattern company later in the season. So, he is still very competitive here under conditions which he has proved suit well.
There are not many maidens that get terrestrial coverage so the 1m 4f is something of an anomaly. Last year it went to the Green Team-owned and Owen Burrows-trained Al Wasl Storm, the same combination is represented by Eben Al Khawaneej here. Each year the owners seem to come up with an unlikely Derby runner, so he must be respected as he will have been targeted at this; however, he showed far less promise on his debut than GALIYAN 2/1 (14:05 Chester) who faced a tough task on his debut against three previous winners from major stables at the Craven meeting. His inexperience was there for all to see, but he stayed on to finish less than 2l behind a horse given a mark of 93 (receiving 7lb). Even normal progression can see him challenge Joulanyvwho brings the best form, but having already had three runs is open to less improvement than Galiyan.
Away from Chester, William Haggas has a leading chance in the sole ITV4 covered race from Ascot with ALBAYDAA 7/2 (13:50 Ascot). He showed an opening mark of 83 to be well within his compass on his return at the Craven meeting – at a time when the yard’s horses looked to be needing the run. He had seen 7f out well when getting off the mark at Wolverhampton, so the return to this trip with a run under his belt should mean a more competitive effort this time.
Finally, away from the ITV coverage a throw at the stumps with PAST PASSION (EW) (14:20 Ascot) who ran better than the form figure suggests on her Bath debut, where she missed the start and did a fair bit of running trying to recover. She understandably got tired that day but with her stable in really good heart and Hollie Doyle booked (4/23 for stable, A/E 1.21) there are reasons to expect above average progression. This will be Hollie’s first ride for the yard since August 2024, and Past Passion can outrun her odds in a race that represents a valuable prize for the grade.
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