Thursday sees the potential D-Day for Telescope, who has been a horse more of reputation and expectation, rather than actual achievement so far. With his much needed comeback run behind him there will be little hiding place if he fails tomorrow at Chester.
He meets Noble Mission again and has a fair bit to catch up but Timeform are tipping him to reverse the form on this occasion. Noble Mission is shading favouritism here and I am going to take them both on with Roger Varian’s Ektihaam at 7/2 or better. This horse cost me a lot when he slipped when well clear in The Hardwicke at Royal Ascot. Previous to that he had looked to improve for a more aggressive ride and his final race of the season was best forgotten, as he ran well below his best in the Diamond stakes.
Tactics will be interesting as Noble Mission appeared to show a penchant for making the running when slamming Telescope last time. Will they run the guts out of each other and leave Telescope to come through or will one dominate and make the most of the sharp track?
Tight to call but I prefer Ektihaam marginally at the odds.
The Chester Vase probably won’t throw up the Derby winner like it did last year. Aiden O Brien fields two with current fav Carlo Bugatti ridden by Joseph and Orchestra ridden by Ryan Moore. Carlo is fitted with blinkers already and that looks a worrying sign. He was only 4th in the Ballysax last time and although it was soft that day I have concerns regarding the overall standard of the Ballydoyle horses this season. Orchestra has potential but has only won a maiden at 4/11 so far and he steps up in distance quite a lot on his seasonal debut. 4/1 is short enough given some modest runs from some high profile stablemates.
I’m looking for a decent price and Seagull Star from the Haggas stable is a contender. By Sea The Stars he ran well in the Tattersalls Millions at Newmarket when finishing third, a few places ahead of Racing Post Trophy runner up, and race favourite, Johann Strauss. His odds are not quite high enough to tempt me though, with the Haggas stable not quite firing on all cylinders yet.
A chance is taken on the Mark Johnston trained Stars Over The Sea. Another son of Sea The Stars, he is said to have less scope for improvement having had more runs last season. I thought he ran a decent race when third in the Investec Derby trial at Epsom, where I was all over his stablemate Hartnell, who disappointed the trainer in 5th. I expect Stars Over The Sea to improve and he wouldn’t be the first Mark Johnston horse to set the pace and keep going when better fancied ones haven’t read the script and can’t catch the leader.
Thursday Chester 2.15 Ektihaam 4pts win 7/2 (or better)
Thursday Chester 2.45 Stars Over The Sea 2pts (10/1 or better)
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.