Sunday’s Racing Tips – Never So Brave can continue progressing at Chester

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Rizzel managed to land a winner yesterday with Al Aasy, who showed his class in the end after looking in trouble along the rail under jockey Jim Crowley.

Fairbanks went close in the following race but was just outstayed by the eventual winner who came back along the rail to get up on the line. Free Wind was ridden cold out the back and was never involved in her race. Jehangeer ran a stinker and was also never involved.

Cairnzy's Tips

Never So Brave 2/1 – Chester 4.35

It's hard to look past Sir Michael Stoute's Never So Brave who looks to be going the right way this season and can take this class 2 event in his stride with eyes set on bigger contests in the future.

My selection remains lightly raced at the age of 3, having only raced five times so far in his career. He started of with two encouraging runs as a two-year-old, finishing second in each of those outings. He went down by just under 2L to Ancient Wisdom on debut and went on to finish a half-length behind Vandeek next time out. Both Ancient Wisdom and Vandeek are previous Group One winners, so the form of those two runs reads extremely well.

My selection returned to the track as a three-year-old in April and It was no surprise to him get off the mark at the third attempt of asking at Thirsk. He won comfortably by 4L at Thirsk and never looked in any trouble throughout that contest, to win by that margin on the back of a long layoff was also impressive in itself. He was given a mark of 94 for that Thirsk success and laughed in the face of the handicapper next time out when following up to win under Ryan Moore at Chester by 2L in a class 2 handicap over the extended 7f on soft ground. Never So Brave was then thrown into the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Ascot and although finishing sixth on the day, he ran with credit to finish 4L of the winner Haatem, an already proven Group horse. He looks a solid favourite now back in handicap company and can continue his upward projectory for trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

Mereside Diva 9/2 – Haydock 5.15

This looks ultra-competitive as you can make claims for most of this field. The market hardly gives you any idea, with the current favorite marked up at 4s.

The one I like in this contest is T D Barron trained Mereside Diva who brings a consistent profile to the table and looks like a horse who can improve further this season. With 5 wins and 3 second-place finishes in just 13 career starts, her record has been remarkably consistent. She kicked off the season with an impressive performance over the same course and distance in May, and most recently scored another hard-fought victory at Thirsk.

She's been hit with a 5lb rise in weights for her recent victory at Thirsk, which seems fair given the manner in which she won on the day. There's a good chance she has more improvement in the tank and with jockey Callum Rodriguez retaining the ride, who guided the horse to both of her wins this year, I'm hoping he can steer her to victory once more.

Rizzel's Tips

Funny Story 13/2 EW – Chester 4.05

I had this race between Funny Story and Al Shabab Storm, but the odds on the favourite is looking slim now and given I didn't have much between the pair, the odds are way more appealing on Funny Story and she has to be the play as she is being overlooked in the market.

We've had Goodwood all week, which is notorious for not getting a run, and on Sunday we have Chester which can have the same comments apply. The way I take things is that you should try not to worry about what may happen in running and just go for the horse you think has the best chance of winning, which is why I am sticking to my guns and going for Funny Story who is drawn low and might end up racing along the rail. There is a fair amount of pace projected in this race, and I think Funny Story will appreciate that as it will allow him to settle nicely, as she can be quite keen through his races.

Funny Story has some rock-solid form and looks to be improving. If you can look past the recent York race, she has been running consistently well without getting her head in front, but has bumped into a few in-form rivals and you can combine that with not getting the rub of the green. On seasonal reappearance she was second at Newmarket behind Unequal Love, that horse has since won the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot and was third in a Group 3 Fillies race at York. The third has since bombed out in America, but that wasn't a true showing, and the front three were miles clear of a decent handicapping field. Last time out Funny Story was second in a Listed race behind Raqiya who has since landed a Group 3 in the stewards room at Glorious Goodwood. The Salisbury race could've easily been won by Funny Story as she didn't get the clearest of runs through and was only beaten by a neck, so with a clear passage she probably would've won, once again the front two pulled well clear.

Looking back to her 3-year-old campaign, she was second to Believing in a Listed race at Pontefract. At the time, I don't think anyone would've thought that the winner was going to be the horse she is, but since then she has finished 3rd in a Group 1 and 4th on two occasions at the top level, and most recently finished 3rd behind Big Evs at Goodwood.

The claims of Al Shabab Storm are clear for all to see, but he is dropping back in trip from 7f and is carrying a penalty for his recent course success, which should make life a lot more difficult. He is a progressive horse, but he has been given an easy time of things in his previous races, by being positioned in the correct place which has allowed him to dictate the race. This race might pan out differently with a lot of pace on offer and against some decent sprinters, and giving away 4lbs to Funny Story could be a problem, as long as she gets a clear run.

Mill Stream 11/4 – Deauville 3.07

The Prix Maurice De Gheest has to be one of the only Group 1 races over 6.5F in Europe, if not the world, and the one which I like is the Jane Chapple-Hyam runner, Mill Stream.

This is going to be a difficult race to win as there are 15 runners, and normally being drawn low near the rail is a big advantage. Mill Stream is drawn in stall 8, which isn't ideal, but if he manages to break well and get a prominent position I think we could be cooking on gas. In terms of the UK raiders, I think Mill Stream is by far the best horse as he proved that when winning the July Cup last month, staying on strongly to beat the Karl Burke filly, Swingalong.

Mill Stream has already proven he is effective at Deauville when winning two Class 1 races last year, putting him 2/2 at the North French track. Today, he has to prove he is just as effective over an extra half furlong, which given the way he sees out his races over 6f I refuse to believe the extra 100 yards will be a problem. On both starts at this track over 6f he was doing his best work in the final stages and he was going further and further clear of his rivals, which gives me plenty of confidence that this trip will be fine.

The French runners will want to win this Group 1 in their homeland, and I think they are the ones to be wary of, especially the likes of Exxtra and Lazzat. The latter is on a roll at the minute, winning on every career start, but has yet to be tested at the top level. Exxtra has hit a good level of recent form as well, but once again hasn't been tested against some top-level sprinters.

The sprinting division isn't anywhere near as strong as it used to be, so given Mill Stream is a proven Group 1 level performer, I think we are in safe hands, especially with William Buick in the saddle.

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