Simon Holt on the Chester May meeting and influence of the Classic trials

By Simon Holt

Horse Racing

Mon June 23, 2025 · 6M ago

The late Alastair Down, whose career began at 'The Sporting Life' newspaper before he moved onto the 'Racing Post' and 'Channel4 Racing', was one of racing’s finest writers but Aidan O’Brien sometimes left him nearly lost for words.

Reporting with golden prose on so many of the big meetings, where the Ballydoyle trainer often seemed to win everything, Down would try to find something different to say.

“I’ve done the man to death!” he once complained before producing, after a few fags, multiple effs and a glass of white wine, yet another piece of heartfelt phraseology and humour.

In fact, the two men always seemed to have a good rapport in interviews albeit that O'Brien is not, as far as I am aware, renowned for nights on the sauce or unrepentant chain smoking.

Nor, as a term of endearment, is he prone to calling his best friends and colleagues by the one word which is totally forbidden on live television.

The master trainer's prowess at this week’s three-day Boodles Chester May Festival, beginning on Wednesday, would test any reporter to deliver a fresh slant as he holds the record number of winners in all three of the Classic trials.

Still, the fact he only shares the record with 'Mr Combustible' Barry Hills in Thursday's Boodles Raindance Dee Stakes (11 winners apiece) does suggest a smidgen of fallibility, though that could change this week given that he trains five of the 13 five-day declarations.

An additional eight winners in Wednesday's Weatherbys Epassport Cheshire Oaks and ten in the Boodles Chester Vase is pure domination, but it is surprising that only the 2013 Vase winner Ruler Of The World went on to Epsom glory.

Therefore, one gets the feeling that, while having a strong regard for the course and the invariably excellent surface, some of O'Brien's runners at Chester derive sometimes from the second or 'reserve' team akin perhaps to the local Wrexham football club in Sky Bet League One albeit doing very well (a recent 2-0 away defeat of Lincoln City) at that level.

So, however impressive they look round the 'Roodee', it may be unwise to get too carried away with their Classic credentials.

Ruler Of The World is in front where it matters

Ruler Of The World won at Chester and Epsom for Aidan O'Brien

Victories in the Derby and Oaks for Chester winners have been sporadic. The Vase produced the Derby heroes Henbit in 1980 and the inimitable Shergar a year later but none since.

The superb Enable displayed her massive potential in the 2017 running of the Cheshire Oaks ten years after Light Shift went on from Chester to secure her trainer Sir Henry Cecil's renaissance in the Oaks.

Derby winners Oath (1999) and Kris Kin (2003) took the Dee Stakes.

Any wonder he's well fancied?

Aside from the occasionally informative Classic trials, the Ladbrokes-sponsored Chester Cup is the meeting's flagship race and is now run on Friday as opposed to its former, slightly puzzling curtain-raising position on the opening day.

The best handicapped horse in this year's field is Wonder Legend who earned a ratings rise of 8lb when winning for the third time in his last four starts at Newcastle last time. Therefore, James Ferguson's progressive gelding would be 5lb well in under a 3lb penalty should he take his chance.

Caballo De Mer could also be well in compared to his reassessed mark.

The reason for this anomaly is that the Chester Cup is an early closing race and the weights, after April 12, don't reflect any ratings updates.

Official handicappers are supposed to create a notionally level playing field so such race conditions are unhelpful, and one wonders if early closers should now be reviewed given that ante-post betting is not what it was.

The weights for Saturday's Betfred Handicap at Newmarket were similarly affected having closed on April 5. More Thunder, Aramram and Run Boy Run were all well in while a few others like Silkie Wilkie and Indian Run were 'wrong' as their ratings have gone down recently.

Bizarrely, only four of the 13 runners were running off their current marks.

The result? More Thunder beat Aramram by a short head with Run Boy Run less than a length further back in fourth. Third placed Two Tribes was at a slight disadvantage under his correct weight and could be one to back if turned out quickly.

It doesn't always work out like this but here the flaws in the system were plain to see.

Early closers add to prize money pools but, to the cost of racehorse owners, most of the entries don't get a run and, even if they do, it might not be the handicap it ought to be.

Any sense of unfairness in Friday's Chester Cup will not affect Aidan O'Brien as he doesn't have an entry.

Alastair would have been quietly relieved about that.

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