Chester - 8th May

The Chester Cup looks a nice race to get stuck into this season. Eighteen runners, good each way terms and three or four horses near the top of the market who look underpriced. Countrywide Flame has been on the go since the Autumn and ran poorly at Aintree last time out, he's due a break and is a favourite well worth taking. Simenon, Justification and Tominator are three others who make little appeal. Simenon is top weight and looks far from well handicapped, Justification has no form on decent ground and is priced up on his trainer and Tominator I backed in this last year when he ran a stinker. Don't think he likes the track.
Much more attractively priced than that quartet is the Dermot Weld trained Olympiad. A rather unexposed animal he won a handicap over two miles at the Ebor meeting most comfortably before running no sort of race in the Cesareawich at Newmarket. He's not actually bred to stay two miles and that race at headquarters probably stretched his reserves of stamina too much. Two miles two furlongs is however a lot more gettable at a tight turning track like Chester and in the hands of a master trainer he's a very solid bet at 12/1. The only negative, and it is a big one, is his draw in stall 17. It'll be tough to win from there so he has to be an each way bet.

Chester Cup:
Olympiad £35ew @ 12/1(lost)

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