Our form expert has two selections for day two of Chester's May meeting on Thursday, live on ITV.
The Verdict: Thursday, May 9
1pt win Clearpoint in 1.30 Chester at 8/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
1.5pts e.w Celtic Warrior in 2.35 Chester at 8/1 (bet365 1/5 1,2,3, 7/1 General)
Get with the Balding Warrior
There is no better trainer to get with in the May Meeting handicaps at Chester than Andrew Balding, who has a staggering record considering it’s a track where the draw is so important.
Balding has trained 18 winners from 91 runners in Chester handicaps in the month of May, a 20% strike-rate, a profit of +£27.83 to a £1 level stake at SP, and it’s clearly a meeting he targets with his up-and-coming handicappers.
He’s got a few running this week including in the Chester Cup, but the one I’ve been looking forward to the most is CELTIC WARRIOR in the Halliwell Jones Handicap over the extended seven furlongs on Thursday.
We’ve got to take on Never So Brave here, a Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt who ran up close behind Vandeek and Ancient Wisdom as a two-year-old, but it has been a slow start to the year for his trainer and at very short prices I want to have this each-way bet against him.
It’s with hope the dead eight stand their ground on that score, but either way Celtic Warrior can put it up to the favourite on the back of two all-weather runs that suggest he’s trained on significantly.
Balding ran him three times within a month as a two-year-old before gelding him, a series of events that screamed handicap project, and he should’ve won off 75 first time back in a Southwell handicap where he was denied a head, his wide draw doing him no favours.
He won a Kempton maiden after that, admittedly beating a bridle merchant into second, but it was a really nice run and one that should’ve brought him on again ahead of his turf campaign. At Kempton he jumped out of the stalls better and led, so ideally he can make the most of that experience and capitalise on his great draw from stall two here under Oisin Murphy.
He looks well treated off his current mark and he reminds me of Here Comes When and Ian Fleming, who both won this very race for the same trainer – and owner in Here Come When’s case.
The Verdict: Back CELTIC WARRIOR in the 2.35 Chester
Crystal Clear bet in opener
The rest of the card looks tricky and I’m in no rush to force an angle in the Dee Stakes and Ormonde Stakes, as while taking Arrest and Point Lonsdale on in the latter sounds like a plan in theory, we could be looking at a hefty Rule 4.
I do think there’s the potential for another pace collapse in the opening sprint handicap, though, just like there was on day one, with several horses who like to get on with it in the field.
It’s difficult to know who that will suit, but if CLEARPOINT gets the breaks from a good low draw in stall three he could have a big say in the finish and I’m happy to take a punt on him around 8/1.
He needed his first run for his new trainer, Simon Hodgson, in February, but he’s run two big races since then, looking like a 50/1 winner at Lingfield in a race that is working out well, only to be reeled in late on, before he was a huge eyecatcher at Epsom last time out.
Held up in the rear, he made up ground from an unpromising position despite being hampered, shaping every inch like he’s a horse on good terms with himself.
From a perch of 89 he must have a good chance on the evidence of his last two runs and chasing a strong pace on the turn might just bring out the best in him.
The Verdict: Back CLEARPOINT in the 1.30 Chester
Preview posted at 1540 BST on 08/05/24
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