We have a cracking days racing at Chester on Wednesday, as it hosts the Group 3 Chester Vase and the Listed Cheshire Oaks. Our top tipster Daryl Carter has five selections from the world’s oldest in-use Racing venue. Read his thoughts below and check out an excellent Bet365‘s new customer offer of Bet £10, Get £50 In Free Bets.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
2.05 Chester – Vintage Clarets (1pt win – 7/1)
VINTAGE CLARETS shaped well from the rear of the field on seasonal return at Newmarket and was better than the bare result of 10th beaten seven lengths. He has never really given the impression that he wants six furlongs and certainly not a stiff six furlongs such as his return run, and he should benefit from that outing today.
Today’s sharp five furlongs should prove right up his street, and he has been granted a good draw in stall 3 to gain a prominent position. He has had four starts over today’s trip, which has produced two victories, a two-length defeat in the Super Sprint at Newbury and a five-length defeat from the wrong side of the track at Ayr in Listed company. He has quickly dropped down the handicap and today is a lesser assignment than many of his tasks last season.
He makes his first handicap start over 5f today, and there could easily be more to come from him now in calmer waters.
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2.40 Chester – Night Battle (1pt win – 4/1)
NIGHT BATTLE didn’t achieve much in a very slowly run race on debut at Lingfield, but she did remarkably well from stone last after being slowly away and running greenly to get up and win going away at the line in the style of a good horse.
That performance on a visual basis marked her down as a potentially very useful type, and she is bred for this extra distance, unlike the favourite who looked right out of the top draw herself. The slight concern with Night Battle is that she may not be experienced enough for a race of this nature, but once the penny dropped at Lingfield, she took off, and given she was asked to sprint around the sharp final home bend, she should have no issues with this track.
I want to take a chance that we have seen potentially a very smart horse at Lingfield. Form lines tie in Hello Jumeirah and Moon De Vega, and with the favourite Above The Curve holding Thoughts Of June, little else should be able to get involved. Hello Jumeirah fought well for victory at Kempton and will stay even further than today’s trip, but she may lack the pace, while Moon De Vega needs to improve on the form lines to beat the selection and lacks the benefit of a run which may be a concern for her backers.
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3.40 Chester – Pocket The Profit (1pt win – 11/2 Ladbrokes, 365, Coral)
The rain due overnight at Chester should just take the sting out of the ground, and that will benefit POCKET THE PROFIT, who looks a winner in waiting off of this handicap mark of 89 on the evidence of his Newmarket performance latest.
This represents a slight drop-in class, and given his recent form was confirmed at the same venue next time by the second and third filling those same spots, he looks one to follow, having been unsuited by the track. The concern today is that he is usually slowly out of the gates and his draw in stall seven is not ideal.
Still, he has won around Wolverhampton over 5f, and the sharp track should prove no issue, and he is highly likely to be coming home stronger than anything else in the race with the amount of pace on. If we miss this time, we will get him next.
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4.45 Chester – Paws For Thought (1pt win – 7/1 bet365, Will Hills)
There is stacks of pace in this race which may be cause for concern, but PAWS FOR THOUGH was well worth an upgrade on his last visit to this venue when scrubbed along from the get-go and forced five wide around the bend. He lacked the pace to get seriously involved at the finish over 6f there when beaten three lengths but emerged with plenty of credit.
Soft ground and the hood are offered up as excuses on his final two starts of the season, and he is a horse that had shaped in need of going back up to 7f on a couple of occasions last term, including the one mentioned above. He scored on this card last term over 6f on the back of a layoff and a gelding operation, and in the hope he arrives here in the same form for his new connections, he is open to improvement three pounds lower. This is slight ease in grade in comparison to that return down into a 0-85, and the return to Chester looks a positive with a record of reading 4411, including over this course and distance. There are negatives for those towards the top of the market. The trip is a concern for Smeaton’s Light, the draw in 11 for Ffion.
Big Narstie is unlikely to handle this sharp track. Gabrial The Wire tends to improve for his reappearance run. Freedom And Weat, Roundhay Park, Mellys Flyer and Animal Instinct all have wide draws to overcome, while Gobi Sunset needs to improve to defy this mark in this company.
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4:45 Chester – BROKEN SPEAR (0.5pt win – @SP)
BROKEN SPEAR, who has been better than the bare result a couple of times this term and connections switch out the cheek-pieces for the visor, which saw him run so well in the Lincoln (5th). His record here at Chester reads 123, and he could easily stage a revival, so he is feared most and may be worth a saver.
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Daryl Carter’s Best Bets
2.05 Chester – Vintage Clarets (1pt win – 7/1)
2.40 Chester – Night Battle (1pt win – 4/1)
3.40 Chester – Pocket The Profit (1pt win – 11/2 Ladbrokes, 365, Coral)
4.45 Chester – Paws For Thought (1pt win – 7/1 bet365, Will Hills)
4:45 Chester – Broken Spear (0.5pt win – @SP)
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