Our form expert struck again with 8/1 winner Goblet Of Fire at Newmarket on Sunday and he has two selections for day one of Chester on Wednesday.
The Verdict: Wednesday May 6
1pt win Percy’s Lad in the 14:05 Chester at 9/2 (General)
1pt e.w Angel Love in the 15:40 Chester at 11/1 (Sky Bet (5 places), Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3,4)
Watching brief in the trials
The Boodles May Festival at Chester kicks off with a couple of fascinating Classic trials on Wednesday and both races could be a straight shootout between Aidan O’Brien and John and Thady Gosden.
The Group 3 Boodles Chester Vase Stakes produced the winner of the Betfred Derby 12 months ago when Lambourn won both races and Benvenuto Cellini looks the chosen one for Ballydoyle this year.
He’s a short-priced favourite, but he does have a 4lb penalty to carry on his seasonal debut, so this doesn’t look a penalty kick by any means - especially with Water To Wine looking highly promising for the Gosdens at Newbury.
In the Listed Weatherbys Cheshire Oaks the Clarehaven team unleash another impressive Newbury maiden winner in I’m The One and she’s odds-on to claim her trial on the road to Epsom.
Those odds look skinny enough given she could improve here and still lose, with O’Brien taking her on with Amelia Earhart and the penalised Sugar Island.
I’ve backed Amelia Earhart for the Oaks and she is on the Minnie Hauk route to Epsom, having won the same Leopardstown maiden on her final start at two before starting out her three-year-old campaign in the same trial.
She’s been well backed for Oaks glory, so it’s so far so good, but the application of the hood and blinkers combination is a little alarming.
You can only conclude her trainer is worried about her focus and sharpness around this track and it’s very rare that O’Brien (or anyone) uses this mixture of headgear. Indeed, I can find only one previous example of O’Brien using the hood and blinkers (on Pennsylvania, fifth and ninth in 2017).
She’s probably best watched and the closest I came to a bet was stablemate Sugar Island at 10/1, as her May Hill and Staffordstown Stud Stakes form looks strong, but the 5lb penalty makes life tough for her.
The Verdict: No bets in the Cheshire Oaks / Chester Vase
Lad to thrive at Chester again
The best bet on the first day at Chester is PERCY’S LAD for Daniel & Claire Kubler in the Join Ladbrokes Bet 5 Get 30 Earl Grosvenor Handicap over the extended seven furlongs.
This son of Sir Percy loves Chester and he’s assembled an excellent record here, his form figures at this course reading 1-3-5-2-1-4 and all of those runs came in handicaps off ratings of 94 or higher.
He gets in here off 90 after being dropped 4lb for his seasonal reappearance at Newmarket where he showed his customary speed before fading out of contention on his first start for 620 days.
That was understandable, but he looks to have retained all of his ability and he can come on considerably for that outing here now he’s back at his favourite track.
The Kublers are well skilled at bringing them back after a long time off as their work with Abbey Heights shows – he’s won three times second time back after a long absence - and Percy’s Lad himself won this very race second time back in 2024.
He’s nicely positioned in stall six to attack under Tom Marquand, but whether he leads outright or gets a tow into things off the well-drawn Partisan Hero he looks handicapped to strike.
I’d have him favourite over Snow Master and odds of 9/2 look perfectly fair.
The Verdict: Back PERCY’S LAD in the 14:05 Chester
Lots of Love for Phillipart De Foy filly
Finally, it could be worth taking an each-way chance on Kevin Phillipart De Foy’s ANGEL LOVE in the American Holidays Handicap for the three-year-olds over the six furlongs.
These early season three-year-old handicaps are tough for the bookies to get a handle on with recent form in short supply, but K-PDF has a very good record in this type of race with a healthy strike-rate of 20% in 3YO-only sprint handicaps from March to June.
Angel Love is one of the most unexposed horses in the field after just the three runs and she looked to have improved quite significantly for her third run when winning a Wolverhampton maiden by over four lengths in a good time.
The only horse to give her a race that day was Sound And Vision, who faded into fourth after challenging the winner, and she came out and franked the form at Southwell, so it was an encouraging win for this daughter of Harry Angel ahead of the switch to handicaps.
She was really sharp from the gates at Wolverhampton so she could get away quickly into a prominent position here under Rowan Scott, who has a very good record for this trainer (11 from 49 at 22%).
The Verdict: Back ANGEL LOVE in the 15:40 Chester
Preview posted at 15:10 BST on 05/05/26
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