Chester Racecourse: preview and tips for Friday’s action-packed eight-race card

A couple of days of racing at Chester is on the cards on Friday and Saturday this week, with a packed eight-race card on offer for punters first up on Friday afternoon.

The first day of racing gets underway at 1.40pm with a nine-runner handicap in class five before the card comes to a close with a three-year-old handicap in class four at 5.50pm.

Read below to discover the latest tips and full meeting preview for Chester’s card on Friday courtesy of BoyleSports, who offer the latest horse racing odds throughout the season.

The opening contest on the card (1.40) sees a field of nine head to the start for the class five handicap over seven furlongs. Kindest Nation looks the one to beat in the opener, arriving at Chester off a career-best performance when scoring in a Haydock handicap last week and should go well again under a penalty. Giselles Izzy, for trainer Ian Jardine, rates the chief threat with three wins from 11 this year, including a 15-runner handicap at Ayr last time out 34 days ago.

Division one of the restricted novice stakes marks race two on the card (2.10) and the Ollie Sangster-trained Sands Of Marra could be the play here, a thrice-raced winner who looked promising before stepping up in class in the Molecomb Stakes at Glorious Goodwood and was somewhat found out but is back in far calmer waters here.

Division two of the same discipline is race three of the meeting (2.45) and Sangster could be in line for a quickfire double on the card with Bob Mali the one to beat having landed the odds on debuts in a seven-runner affair at Ayr last month. Dark Rosa for trainer George Boughey is likely to be the main danger with two fourths on his resume and is ripe for improvement here.

A very open-looking sprint handicap is race four on Friday’s card (3.20) as a field of 12 will travel over the six furlong trip. Very slight preference heads the way of the Philip Midgley-trained Run This Way, who completed a hat-trick earlier this season before following up with a decent enough fifth at Southwell last time out three weeks ago. Oso Rapido ran well on his last spin at Thirsk and is entitled to be a player here, dropping down in trip for trainers Roger Fell and Sean Murray and has the cheekpieces back on to break a 13-race losing streak.

Judgementofsolomon stands out in the fifth race on Chester’s card (3.50) for trainer Sir Mark Prescott at 3.50 in the one mile seven furlong handicap, being less exposed at this trip than his rivals and should enjoy the soft ground, while race six (4.30) can go the way of The Crafty Mole from the David O’Meara yard, who scored a fifth win of the season at Thirsk a fortnight ago and is very much the class of the field here.

The penultimate race of the afternoon sees a field of 13 head to the stalls for the seven furlong class four handicap  (5.05) and Mercurial looks the one to beat heading over from Ireland for trainer John Nallen who was a runner up last time out at Roscommon.

Finally, Aviemore gets the nod in the one mile two furlong handicap at 5.40 for the Charlie Johnston team, getting off the mark at Ayr in July before running well when second at Lingfield last time out. Of his rivals, Celtic Warrior looks to be the big danger for Andrew Balding, getting back on track when hitting the frame in his last two outings and can go well again at Chester.

Chester selections – Friday

1.40 – Kindest Nation

2.10 – Sands Of Marra

2.45 – Bob Mali

3.20 – Run This Way

3.50 – Judgementofsolomon

4.30 – The Crafty Mole

5.05 – Mercurial

5.40 – Aviemore