Teed Up ran a decent race to finish in the place at the Galway Festival.
His jumping wasn't the best throughout, which definitely didn't help his chances. The ride was a bit iffy, going wide all race, covering much more ground was another reason to take into account. The place money resulted in the tiniest of profits, but it was a shame not to see him go closer.
Celandine 2/1 (2pt) – Chester 3.52
The best race in the UK on Sunday comes at Chester in the form of a Listed six-furlong race. It's a decent enough renewal, and you can give a shout to at least five of the runners. From Stall 2, hopefully, Celandine will have a good break from the stalls and make the running.
Chester is up there with my least favourite tracks in the country. You need a low stall to be in with a solid chance, as it's very rare to come from the back or go multiple horses wide throughout. If she breaks from the stalls well, she should be able to get a handy position at the very least. She is drawn next to Ain't Nobody, who likes to be ridden towards the rear and on the other side is Toyotomi, who might struggle with the sharpness of the track.
Celandine was a useful juvenile last year. She is a very quick horse, suited to fast ground. Chester is potentially getting a couple of showers, so I'll be praying that they don't turn up, as it wouldn't benefit my selection. She won a Listed race and Group 2 last year, including beating the Group 1 winner from Royal Ascot, Time For Sandals.
This year, she has only been on the track once. That run came last month at York in a Group 3, where she looked just as good as she did last year. Chances are that she needed the run from 286 days away from the track, and if that is the case, she will be a tough horse to beat in today's race. She was entered in the Group 2 over 5f at Goodwood this week but was withdrawn due to the slower ground.
I tipped up Kassaya on her last run at Sandown. She should've won that race, but she didn't win it in the style I thought she would have. She stayed on well over 5f, so she will like the extra furlong that she gets today. I don't think she'll be in love with the track, and that's the reason why I've deserted her for today's race, as well as the form not looking the strongest.
Astral Sea 11/2 (1pt) – Yarmouth 5.12
There are many safer options in this race than Astral Sea, which is my selection. However, you know what you're going to get from nearly every horse in this race, with most of them being exposed. With Astral Sea, she could be much better than this field, or she might not be good at all. That's the risk on offer, but on handicap debut, I think she is worth a few quid.
We see horses all the time, horses on their first three starts. They run well for one run, and on the other two, they don't run a race whatsoever. This horse ran her best effort on debut, which was an okay effort, but the other two weren't anywhere near as good. As a result, she has gotten herself a very low handicap mark. When you look at her pedigree, she should be much better than her handicap mark, and with the yard being in such good form, she has to be worth the risk.
GambleAware