20:40 Chester

Friday 28 June 2019

All17:5018:2018:5519:3020:0520:40

Chester Bet Handicap

Off time: 20:40 | Winning time: 2m 12.69s

(3)

Mokammal²⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: C O'Donoghue| T: Sir Michael Stoute| OR: 84

9/2

Hardly impressive in justifying short odds at Wetherby but the slow pace may have been a factor. Looks better handicapped judged on his debut form, but historically this race usually goes to a horse officially rated 75-79.

Form: 2-31

(4)

Gabrial The One¹³

Age: 3| Weight: 9-4| J: T Hamilton| T: R A Fahey| OR: 81| C

11/2

Looked to have plenty left when scoring here in May over 1m4f. Not as good on soft ground in better company a fortnight ago, but less highly tried on what should be a better surface. Drop back in distance should not be an issue.

Form: 31-3514

(2)

Sparkle In His Eye^p1²⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-4| J: D Tudhope| T: W J Haggas| OR: 81

2/1

Bred to be better suited by this trip and his Windsor form puts him on an attractive mark. Cheekpieces fitted and rider 15-24 for the stable this year.

Form: 2134

(6)

Guildhall⁴²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-1| J: Josephine Gordon| T: R M Beckett| OR: 78

16/1

Beaten favourite on his first two starts this term and stopped quickly on his last run six weeks ago. No surprise to see him rebound but he remains a risk for now.

Form: 314-340

(5)

Conundrum³¹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: J Garritty| T: Jedd O'Keeffe| OR: 77| D

3/1

Landed two class five races this term and also not disgraced in this company. Made all over this trip at Leicester and the runner-up has since scored off 3lb higher. The last five winners of this had official ratings of 75-79 so he's hard to ignore.

Form: 743-131

(7)

Blood Eagle¹⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 8-10| J: Rob Hornby| T: A M Balding| OR: 73

9/1

Beat the useful Eagles By Day over 1m4f at Wolverhampton, but has been unable to replicate that effort in three turf runs since. Drops further in the weights but doubts remain.

Form: 521594

(1)

Ivory Charm⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-3| J: Sean Davis⁽³⁾| T: R A Fahey| OR: 66| BF

10/1

Beat an exposed lot at Hamilton and no match for a well-handicapped rival next time. Tackles a new trip against more promising types, but receives plenty of weight and cannot easily be dismissed.

Form: 466212

Forecasts

Sparkle In His Eye (2/1), Conundrum (3/1), Mokammal (9/2), Gabrial The One (11/2), Blood Eagle (9/1), Ivory Charm (10/1), Guildhall (16/1)

SPARKLE IN HIS EYE represents the all conquering Haggas/Tudhope partnership and is fancied to be the first horse to win this off a mark above 79. The Sea The Stars colt comes from the family of Golden Horn and so there should be more to come now stepping up to this trip. His Windsor third to two subsequent winners places him on a good mark and he can take this at the expense of Conundrum. The Middleham raider made all to score on his first attempt at this trip and the form has received a boost since. The Fahey pair, Ivory Charm and Gabrial The One are hard to split, but Mokammal needs to perform better than when scoring at Wetherby to overcome topweight.