Chester May Festival 2016: Day Two Preview

Cannock Chase won three times as a three-year-old and looked likely to add to that tally sooner rather than later when filling second spot in last season's Huxley Stakes. Accordingly, it was a surprise that it took until September for him to find the winners’ enclosure—after a listed race at Newmarket—and he showed that he was at least as good as ever when winning the Grade 1 Canadian International at Woodbine the following month. His subsequent outing in the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in December was disappointing (below best eleventh of thirteen) but it would be unwise to judge him on that run—he has only twice been out of the first three in eleven starts.

Last year’s winning trainer John Gosden will be represented by Western Hymn who tops the ratings. A recent second to My Dream Boat in the Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown halted Western Hymn’s record of winning on his first start of the season, having done so in the three preceding years, however the winner is very smart and there was no disgrace in defeat. Richard Fahey’s Gabrial was a never-nearer fifth in the same race, which was some way below his best form. Despite winning his maiden at Chester, his form at the track since (including when fourth in this race last year) isn’t overly impressive.

Master Carpenter, who was fourth at Sandown, and Top Notch Tonto, who was two places further back in sixth, are others from the Gordon Richards Stakes who will re-oppose. The former won the John Smith’s Cup at York last term and followed that up with a fine second to Intilaaq in the Group 3 Rose of Lancaster Stakes at Haydock, however he hasn’t been able to reproduce that level of form since. Top Notch Tonto has only won once since 2013, at York last June, though he should come on for his reappearance last month.

Completing the field are Fire Fighting and Battalion. The former is a durable and smart performer who had 25 races in 2015 alone. Amazingly, he was able to win three times—at Chelmsford, Dundalk and Kempton—from October onwards. Battalion has not always looked the most straightforward under pressure, however he was a winner at Goodwood and Lingfield last term and wasn’t far below his peak efforts when fourth in the rearranged John Porter Stakes at Chelmsford last month.

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The Aidan O’Brien-trained US Army Ranger has an identical profile to 2013's Chester Vase winner Ruler of The World after making a winning belated debut in that same 10-furlong maiden in early-April, and his run here is eagerly anticipated given he’s ante-post favourite for the Derby. US Army Ranger had attracted support for the Epsom classic even before that first start, and a cosy success on heavy ground there showed he possesses plenty of natural ability. While the runner-up from that race ran poorly next time, the third (a stablemate of US Army Ranger) has won since, and US Army Ranger is open to lots of improvement, especially now he goes up to a mile and a half (he’s by Galileo and out of Irish Oaks winner/Oaks runner-up Moonstone).

O’Brien also runs Port Douglas who wore first-time blinkers when winning the Group 2Beresford Stakes over a mile at the Curragh last September and then ran well on form when fourth in the Racing Post Trophy. There could be more to come from him now he tackles 12 furlongs (certainly bred that way) but it appears there’s a few ahead of him in the Ballydoyle pecking order, not least US Army Ranger (the choice of Ryan Moore here).

Just four horses take on the Ballydoyle pair. They are headed by Biodynamic who justified strong market support when winning an 11-furlong Kempton maiden on his return and improved plenty again when third of nine to Linguistic in a valuable sales race over a mile and a quarter at Newmarket three weeks ago. He will be suited by the step up to this distance and could do even better, though it’s debatable whether he’s open to as much improvement as US Army Ranger.

High Grounds is a brother to Ballydoyle’s Racing Post Trophy fourth Jacobean and created a good impression when making a winning debut in a Lingfield maiden in January. However, he couldn’t get within eight lengths of Midterm and Algometer in the 10-furlong Sandown Classic Trial two weeks ago and, while he remains open to improvement, perhaps the most interesting thing about him here is that he could act as a gauge to judge the relative merits of US Army Ranger and Midterm (likewise Dwight D who finished a further five lengths behind High Grounds in that Sandown race).

The field is completed by Ormito, who won a Haydock maiden on his second start last term and then finished fourth in a listed race at Newmarket and seventh in a Group 1 at Saint- Cloud, both over a mile and a quarter. He’s bred to relish this step up to 12 furlongs but may not have the class of some of these, while his trainer Andrew Balding’s three previous runners in this race over the last five years finished fifth, third and third.