18:40 Chester

Friday 30 June 2017

All18:1018:4019:1019:4520:1520:50

Call The MBNA Team Maiden Auction Stakes (Plus 10)

Off time: 18:46 | Winning time: 1m 30.21s

(2)

Alifax⁹

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: D C Costello| T: J A Osborne

2/1

Well drawn here and could well put his experience to good use having already had three outings which have shown steady rather progressive improvement. Ran his best race on the AW last time out over 7f when only headed close home and should be amongst the action here.

Form: 052

(12)

Aussie Wind

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: L P Keniry| T: H Palmer

8/1

One of four newcomers in the field his Aussie Rules colt is poorly drawn for his debut being on the outside of this field. He's a half-brother to a 7f winner in Bahamian Bird and a two-year-old 5f winner in Sasana but given his stalls position this may be a tough debut.

Form:

(9)

Bib And Tucker¹⁵

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: H Crouch⁽³⁾| T: D H Brown

40/1

Just had the one run so far when finishing well held over 6f at Nottingham when 66/1 shot going with little fluency or promise and drawn wide here.

Form: 8

(1)

Bumble Beeze¹¹

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Sammy Jo Bell⁽³⁾| T: Tom Dascombe

14/1

Has the luxury of the inside stall but hardly has the form to take a hand here having been beaten 10L in a seller at Windsor last time out and surely will find this too tough on what he's shown so far.

Form: 97

(7)

Gas Monkey

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Shelley Birkett⁽³⁾| T: Miss J Feilden

28/1

Debutante from a yard that have only had two juvenile winners in the past five seasons. Makes little appeal on pedigree and sure to be one of the longer priced shots here.

Form:

(3)

Jaycols Star

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Jordan Vaughan⁽³⁾| T: P A Kirby

66/1

Half-brother to winner up to 7f Cut Me Loose while the dam was a winner over a mile. Yard can have the odd two-year-old winner so worth keeping an eye on in the market from a decent draw.

Form:

(5)

Knight In Armour¹⁵

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: F Norton| T: C & M Johnston

5/4

Shaped well on his debut over 7f at Haydock despite having a pedigree that suggests longer trips will be the order of the day. Raced a little freely on his debut in the early stages so the fact that his effort flattened out in the closing stages was understandable but he merits plenty of respect here on his second start for a yard going well with juveniles.

Form: 4

(6)

Sausage Fingers²⁹

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: Patrick Pilley⁽⁵⁾| T: Tom Dascombe

20/1

The second runner from this stable in this and he'll need to show more than he did on his debut to take a hand here. His run on debut over 6f didn't show much promise and he's best watched here.

Form: 8

(4)

Snooker Jim

Age: 2| Weight: 9-2| J: R Ffrench| T: Steph Hollinshead

25/1

Yard are 0/7 with their juveniles this year. This Holy Roman Emperor colt cost £16,000 as a yearling and is the first foal of an unraced dam who was a half-sister the smart 6f-7f winner Van Ellis. Decent enough on pedigree but the record of the yard with two-year-olds tempers enthusiasm.

Form:

(11)

Fastalong¹⁸

Age: 2| Weight: 8-11| J: Connor Murtagh⁽⁷⁾| T: T D Easterby

16/1

Not well drawn towards the outside but did show some promise on her debut at Pontefract having got outpaced in the early stages but running on at the end. Pedigree suggests that longer trips will suit and she gets that here if she can overcome the wide draw.

Form: 6

(8)

Foxy's Spirit¹²

Age: 2| Weight: 8-11| J: P M Quinn| T: T D Easterby

100/1

The slightly better drawn one of the yard's two representatives in this although she doesn't have any form to her name having been well beaten over 5f and 7f in her two starts so far.

Form: 00

(10)

Lucifugous¹⁷

Age: 2| Weight: 8-11| J: S A Gray| T: S C Williams

12/1

Ran in a field of newcomers on her debut at Newmarket and shaped well although she does come from a yard with a poor strike-rate with juveniles. That can't take away the fact that she shaped with promise over that 6f (held-up, travelled well, not knocked about) and although that form hasn't been tested looks one of the more likely candidates here. Does have a wide draw to overcome though and that might make life just a little harder.

Form: 6

Forecasts

Knight In Armour (5/4), Alifax (2/1), Aussie Wind (8/1), Lucifugous (12/1), Bumble Beeze (14/1), Fastalong (16/1), Sausage Fingers (20/1), Snooker Jim (25/1), Gas Monkey (28/1), Bib And Tucker (40/1), Jaycols Star (66/1), Foxy's Spirit (100/1)

Eventually KNIGHT IN ARMOUR is going to need further than this 7f but as long as he settles better than on his debut he’s one of the main players in this race and should be able to improve again especially with Franny Norton taking the ride(one of the best around Chester). The well drawn Alifax looks to be one of the main dangers although he’s only making modest progress with each run while both Lucifugous and Fastalong will know more than they did on their debuts and should come on for those runs and can hit the places here.