Our form expert has two selections for day two of the Boodles May Festival at Chester, live on ITV Racing.
The Verdict: Thursday May 7
1pt win Rahiebb in the 15:05 Chester at 7/2 (General)
1pt win King Of Thunder in the 15:40 Chester at 8/1 (Paddy Power, 15/2 General)
Rahiebb to come of age in the Ormonde
Aidan O’Brien has an excellent record in the Group 3 Ladbrokes Ormonde Stakes at Chester, winning it seven times, and he has the top two in the betting in Jan Brueghel and last year’s winner Illinois on Thursday.
On their best form they look a formidable two-pronged attack, but Jan Brueghel hasn’t been seen since a laboured fourth in cheekpieces in the King George last July while Illinois put in an unusually poor effort in the same headgear when seventh in the Irish St Leger when he was last seen.
Both rock up for their seasonal reappearances here without the headgear, but the race could well serve as a sharpening up exercise for both and even after winning this prize seven times O'Brien has had horses beaten at odds of 8/11, 4/5, Evens and 11/10 (twice) in this contest.
That gives hope to Roger Varian's RAHIEBB who can come of age in staying contests this season with a very solid three-year-old campaign under his belt.
The son of Frankel just got better and better last season, culminating in an excellent second in the St Leger at Doncaster where he ran on to go down by just a neck to Scandinavia in his most exacting test of stamina all year.
He looks a stayer to go to war with in the Cup races this season and this looks a really good race for him to test himself against some Ballydoyle A-listers before he has a go at races like the Gold Cup at Ascot and the Goodwood Cup.
The key could be his trajectory, as he looked better than ever on his final start at three and his dam, Playful Sound, improved at four, while her half-brother, Ispolini, was another stayer who peaked at four.
The worry is this might be too sharp a test, but if the Ballydoyle pair aren’t at their best class could well see him through.
Given Varian is in good form and has a good record at Chester, I’m inclined to think he might just have the guns for this, and it could be that the St Leger he was second in to Scandinavia was a better renewal than the one Jan Brueghel and Illinois fought out the year before.
The Verdict: Back RAHIEBB in the 15:05 Chester
Thunder to rumble for Palmer
The opening CAA Stellar Handicap over five furlongs is a good betting heat but with Ruby's Profit and Roman Dragon drawn in two of the inside stalls their odds have collapsed and they look the two most likely winners in the race.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chester specialist Roman Dragon win the race for the second successive year for local trainer Hugo Palmer, who drew a blank on day one but looks sure to have winners throughout the week.
One of them could well be KING OF THUNDER in the Xenon Workplace Handicap over the extended seven furlongs at 15:40, the son of Night Of Thunder coming in here off a lowly mark of 79.
That’s on the back of three average efforts in maiden and novice company to get his career under way at two, but gelded after the third run he returned at Haydock in October to land a seven-furlong nursery off top weight and a mark of 75.
He squeezed through rivals to win by a short head, so he couldn’t go up much, but that will have done him the world of good and he’s another one who can take a significant step forward now he’s a year older.
His dam was a late bloomer in the second half of her three-year-old career and she’s from a family who improved with age, so it’s reasonable to expect more from this horse, especially as he edges out in trip.
Well drawn in stall four with a guaranteed pace to chase, he can improve on everything he’s done before for a stable intent on producing Chester winners.
The Verdict: Back KING OF THUNDER in the 15:40 Chester
Preview posted at 15:50 BST on 06/05/26
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