Horses to follow at the Boodles May Festival at Chester Racecourse

In 2013 Space Ship won the Deepbridge Syndicate Maiden Stakes for John Gosden and in June was beaten a length into second in the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot at 16/1; last season Secret State (Charlie Appleby) shed his maiden on the Roodee and went one better in the King George V Stakes as the 4/1 favourite.

There have been mixed fortunes for the winners in between that pair as you would expect but several went on to achieve a decent level of form and this is traditionally a decent maiden, as the above suggests, with the winner and placed horses worth following in handicap company.

John Gosden hasn't saddled the winner since 2014 but did saddle last year's second and VAGUELY ROYAL, a very well-bred colt, would be a fascinating runner having shaped well on his Yarmouth debut in September; his lack of big race entries suggests that he may need time.

There are similarities with Shadow Dance although Roger Varian's colt didn't debut until April when splitting horses trained by Ralph Beckett and William Haggas, both of whom have entries in this race so the market should be informative if all line up.

The closing Everyone's Turf Handicap was won last year by Ffion (entered 1.30 Friday) who is trained by David Loughnane whose Metabolt is an interesting contender for handicaps this year but seems highly unlikely to get a run in this contest. He was a beaten favourite at this course in September in which Devasboy finished second. The runner-up is now with Ian Williams and ran well for his new stable on his penultimate start; he is a course winner and 1 lb below his last winning mark but also seems set to be balloted out.

That will be no concern for Roman Dragon whose three course wins all came over six furlongs. The locally based Hugo Palmer is likely to have targeted this week for a number of horses in his yard and Oisin Murphy has already been booked for Roman Dragon who is back down to his last winning mark after struggling in the second half of last season.

There are no form concerns for BROKEN SPEAR who won this race in 2021. He wasn't running as well when fourth in last year's renewal - the only time he's been out of the first three in four course visits - but was close to his best when beaten a neck at Leicester and even a 2 lb rise for that run leaves the veteran feasibly handicapped. He may not win frequently and hasn't struck since the end of 2021 but he was beaten under three lengths when fifth in the 2022 Lincoln from 6 lbs higher and is capable of decent handicap form; he should be hard to keep out of the frame.

CHRONOGRAPH is one of the more interesting entries for Palmer with the three-year-old looking as though he has been campaigned with handicaps in mind. He had three relatively quick runs in January and February before being gelded and he has a choice between the Halliwell Jones Handicap (last on Thursday) and the Boodles Darley Maiden Stakes on Friday, both over 12 furlongs.

The handicap is chock full of unexposed horses, including two stablemates, as you would expect and will be competitive. Whether Chronograph is well enough handicapped to win remains to be seen as he looks no more than fairly treated but it would be no surprise to see him take a significant step forward now stepped up in trip, showing the benefit of his operation and a short break.

Another runner who is no more than fairly treated is NYMPHADORA in the opener on Thursday but fair could be good enough and she also represents a yard whose runners this week merit a second look. Andrew Balding has an impressive course record (around 20% career strike rate to a very healthy level stakes profit) and looks set for a busy week.

His Kings Lynn heads the weights for the CAA Stellar Handicap after doing most of his running in pattern races and he has finished second on both course outings. Nymphadora has also been campaigned in pattern races with black type so valuable on a mare's page but she is more at home in this grade as she showed when chasing home Saturday's Palace House Stakes second Live In The Dream at this venue 12 months ago. She's only 1 lb higher now, has a run under her belt and can make her presence felt.

Look Out Louis is another runner trying to win the same race for a second time having denied Palace House third Manaccan in last year's renewal. Julie Camacho enjoyed a winner at Newmarket on Saturday so her team is clearly in good form but Look Out Louis is 10 lbs higher in the handicap this time around.

Balding has a good record in the White Oak Apprentice Handicap on Friday, saddling the winner in 2015 and 2017 and last year's third (10/3 beaten favourite). Those are the only three horses he has run in eight runnings of the 12 furlong contest so there will be plenty of attention is his sole entry, AUSTRALIAN ANGEL, takes up her engagement.

Australian Angel has done much of her recent running over further, including when third as the 2/1 favourite behind Novel Legend (now 19 lbs higher having finished 2nd, 1st & 1st and a leading fancy for the Chester Cup); this lesser test may not be ideal and she is relatively exposed but she, too, has a run under her belt and seems certain to give a good account.

It's interesting to see Gordon Elliott with an entry in Brasca, not least as Elliott saddled Eshtiaal to finish third at 12/1 in 2015 under then 7 lb claimer Jack Kennedy.

Staying with Friday and what promises to be a good renewal of the Precision Facades Handicap where MAKSUD could make his seasonal reappearance for Hughie Morrison, another in-form trainer.

I like the (potential) booking of Jason Hart who has a decent enough record for the stable and at this track. Maksud blew out on his final start of 2022 but had been campaigned as a good horse prior to that, rather surprisingly pitched in at Listed level for his second start. He acquitted himself well there as he did in the Hampton Court Stakes but those runs rather blew his handicap mark and he had to settle for second behind Secret State at Glorious Goodwood.

That form is obviously rock solid and he's only a couple of pounds higher which is reasonable while this keen going sort could prove to be well suited by returning to 10 furlongs.

Set to run over the same trip on Thursday in the TMT Group Handicap is the optimistically named AMOR VINCIT OMNIA.

He has his second start for Harry Eustace who has started the season with a bang and, again, I like the jockey booking with Pierre-Louis Jamin jocked up at the entry stage as the apprentice has a decent record for the stable (8/31) and at Chester.

There are others in the race with sexier profiles but Amor Vincit Omnia has had a blow out and is another back below his last winning mark. He's also unexposed over middle distances with just his seasonal and yard debut to his name beyond a mile but as a half-brother to several winners over 10 furlongs and beyond there's hope that he could progress now faced with a stiffer test and step up on the form he's shown to date.

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