Our man at the track reflects on a day Aidan O'Brien landed two Epsom trials at Chester as Minnie Hauk and Lambourn thrived under Ryan Moore.
Chester is a beautiful racetrack, especially on a sunny day in May, but there’s no denying it can be a right pain in the backside to get to.
As I sat in traffic staring at the back of a ‘Durham Animal Feeds’ van on the M62 for what seemed like an hour this morning, plenty of questions crossed my mind.
Will Aidan O’Brien be there? Will John Gosden be there? Will Andrew Balding be there? What are Durham Animal Feeds doing on the outskirts of Manchester, are they nationwide?
The answers were no, no, no and maybe. The Chester car parks seemingly too much for these A-list trainers to contend with, even if you’re blessed with a fleet of helicopters. It’s not the sort of commitment that would get you far at D.A.F.
Liverpool legend Ian Rush was here, complete in brave maroon suit as he made the draw for Friday’s Ladbrokes Chester Cup. He lives round the corner to be fair.
Kieran Shoemark was here, too, on the day he lost the top job with the Gosdens. He ran off when approached, not the first time that’s happened to me on a racecourse and likely not the last. He returned ashen-faced as Cracksman’s sister Queen Of Thieves trailed in last in the Cheshire Oaks.
If she was a Hail Mary play to get back in the good books at Clarehaven, it couldn’t have gone much worse.
Up front in the same race, Ryan Moore. If ever there was a jockey for the rest of his peers to look up to in terms of limiting the mistakes it’s Moore. Can you remember him giving one a bad ride around Chester? I can’t.
