Timeform: Saturday racing preview and flags
Timeform highlight three horses to back on the final day of Chester's May meeting on Friday.
Furthest clear on ratings
Dark Shift – 13:15 Nottingham
Charlie Hills looks to have found an excellent opportunity for Dark Shift to make a winning reappearance in this six-furlong novice contest. Although he has to concede weight all round under a penalty, his form from two starts last year puts him a long way clear of his rivals on Timeform ratings. Dark Shift made a very promising start to his career when winning a similar at Ascot last September by four lengths from Twilight Calls who looks a useful sprinter in the making himself after his own successful reappearance at Doncaster earlier this month. Dark Shift was then favourite to follow up in a four-runner conditions race at Salisbury the following month but the race didn’t pan out for him as he pulled hard in the steadily-run contest and was beaten three quarters of a length by Apollo One. That rival has won a listed race since and Dark Shift should find the opposition he faces here a lot easier to handle.
The big improver
Kyprios – 14:50 Lingfield
Most of the seven colts in Lingfield’s Derby Trial are open to improvement and all of them will be tackling the trip, just short of a mile and a half, for the first time. While the Classic Trial runner-up Adayar sets the standard on form, the one who could benefit most from going another couple of furlongs is Ryan Moore’s mount for Aidan O’Brien, Kyprios. He disappointed in the Zetland Stakes at Newmarket last season but put that behind him when making a successful return in a useful minor event at Cork last month. In a race which tested stamina, Kyprios stayed on best despite being hampered two furlongs out, while he didn’t travel with much fluency either, hence the cheekpieces he’s wearing here for the first time. Kyprios is bred to relish at least a mile and a half as he’s a brother to Falcon Eight, winner of the Chester Cup 24 hours earlier, and the dual Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song. As well as putting the emphasis on stamina, any softening of the ground wouldn’t inconvenience him as he made a winning debut last year on heavy ground at Galway.
The Timeform flag (Horse In Focus)
Camprond – 15:25 Haydock
Camprond brings an unexposed profile to the Swinton Handicap Hurdle which his trainer Philip Hobbs has won twice before, most recently with War Sound in 2015. Camprond was useful on the Flat in France and got off the mark at the third attempt over hurdles in a maiden at Taunton in March which turned out to be Richard Johnson’s final winner before his retirement. He was then well backed for his handicap debut which came in a conditional jockeys’ and amateur riders’ race at Aintree last month. Camprond travelled strongly in mid-division and looked the winner when leading on the bridle before the last only to be headed in the dying strides by Rowland Ward. That earned Camprond the ‘Horse In Focus’ Flag as he could hardly have shaped much better in defeat and, with better to come, can turn the tables on the winner whom he meets again here.
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