The May election for the Scottish Parliament was labelled 'the Meh' elections this week due to the level of public disillusionment with politics in Holyrood. Perhaps Chester's May Meeting can be labelled likewise. Put simply, these three days on the Roodee descended into farce.
Firstly, a confession. This is not a racecourse where yours truly likes to punt. Like Goodwood, the hard-luck stories on this sharp, twisting and turning course are plentiful. For me, it's always a watching brief.
Day one was pleasant enough. Nice, fast ground, bizarrely described as good, with no issues. A lovely Oaks and Derby prospect was unearthed in the winners and the rest of the card was good, competitive racing.
Day two was the polar opposite. After reports of horses slipping on the bend for home and after the line, there was a delay of an hour and 10 minutes before Chester decided to proceed with the rest of the day's racing. Jockeys, trainers and officials inspected the track, leading to a 70-minute delay on Thursday. Sand was applied to the problematic bend to get racing on at Chester's May meeting. The ground was heavily scrutinised, and inaccurate going descriptions are frustrating.
Remedial work was successfully carried out, with the grass trimmed and sand applied around the bends. The clerk Eloise Quayle opted to put 4mm of water on, and that ultimately caused horses to slip on the top as it didn't get into the ground. Goodwood, a similarly sharp track, suffered an abandonment on Saturday when caught out by a heavy rain shower around the bends before the final two races.
It all puts artificial watering into the spotlight, and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) need to get a grip on this situation and demand that racecourse clerks give accurate indications of their watering policy. It's important information for punters, owners, jockeys and trainers alike. Some don't have the luxury of walking the course beforehand for peace of mind. Racecourses owned by Arena Racing Company are often guilty of this.
Some jockeys seemed reluctant to continue. Jason Watson was unsure, and Tom Marquand even pulled out of riding in the middle of the card. 'Tom says the ground is dangerous,' assistant trainer Maureen Haggas told ITV Racing. Needless to say, the yard pulled their runners. The official reason? 'Unsuitable going'.
That is a world away from 'dangerous'. There is a marked difference between unsafe and unsuitable. Unsuitable implies that the ground is unraceable for a specific horse in specific ground. Unsafe implies that no horse should be racing on this ground. The lines on this simply cannot be blurred. In a sport eager to stress to the general public to preserve its social license to operate that horse welfare is the No 1 priority at all times, the farce at Chester presents a different impression.
Thankfully, the rest of the day's racing passed without incident. Just like the rest of the day passed without incident at Cheltenham when they had a major drainage issue earlier in the year. The lengthy delay was another example of punters being left in the dark. Chester's May meeting is an expensive affair to attend, and to be left in limbo for 70 minutes with precious little communication as to what was going on was not acceptable.
Chester is the world's oldest racecourse, established in 1539. One imagines the WiFi signal was created in 1540. For most inside, you'd get a better signal on the moon, which obviously led to further puzzlement in the paddock. It's widely appreciated clerks of the course have a difficult job, but the lack of accountability in this butchering that took place at the track's biggest meeting of the year in front of the ITV cameras was staggering.
Sometimes difficult decisions need to be promptly taken. Either leave the ground alone or water properly, put sand on the bends and cut the grass accordingly to best avoid slips. At least that way everyone knows where they stand, pardon the pun.
To compound the shambles, a further 8mm was applied ahead of day three, making the ground good-to-soft, according to Chester officials. It wasn't and was still quick. What is also unacceptable, or it should be if the BHA bother to get on top of the issue, is three days of inaccurate going descriptions given to punters. There was no rain at Chester all week. None was forecast and none arrived, so you'd think it would be safe for punters to study the form and work on the basis that the ground would have firm in it. But no.
Chester gave the official going description as 'Good' all week. It wasn't. Proform times say the ground on day one was 'Firm', day two was 'Firm' and day three was 'Good To Firm'. Jan Brueghel won the Ormonde Stakes in good style at a good Chester meeting for Ballydoyle. There seems to be an aversion for clerks to put 'Firm' in the going description for welfare purposes. Yet, the sport consistently still races on it according to times after the meeting. The blurred lines between safety and suitability continue to bewilder.
It also puts muck in the form book as that always goes with the official ground description. The BHA ought to appoint a steward to keep a close eye on these ground descriptions. Trainer Stuart Williams posted on X after the dust settled on Chester: 'This just isn't good enough. Punters and participants are being let down by the BHA. Both need accurate information on which they make their decisions.'
The farce doesn't stop at Chester's door. Newmarket on Guineas weekend had two impressive winners. Both were drawn really high but they failed to offer a going description from the near side, middle and far side. Unlike Saturday at Ascot, who admirably did. At least punters have an indication that there might be a track bias. Whether there should be a track bias in the first place when two Classics are run is a different argument. There shouldn't be, and Johnny Dineen's barb on that issue in Saturday's Racing Post was spot-on.
Lingfield didn't disclose their watering details at any point over the week ahead of yesterday's Trials day. Ripon had the most farcical of flag starts on Friday night that would defy belief, but at least it wasn't a Group One in a race that evoked horrible memories of the Nassau Stakes at last year's 'Inglorious Goodwood'.
Racing seems intent on shooting itself in the foot, appeasing the anti-racing brigade while ignoring the day-to-day basics of running a professional sport. Fix the fundamentals and improve the product. The relentless chase of pursuing a new audience is starting to alienate the core one. You know, the folk that punt and contribute to the sport via the Levy. These people channel their time, energy and money into racing on a regular basis. It's a professional sport as well as a day out with all the frills and frivolity attached.
These might read like splitting hairs and moans and groans, but this comes at a time when affordability checks, now labelled as Financial Risk Assessments, are looming large and are set to be implemented in the coming weeks. Punters need little excuse to walk away. A week of farce makes it much, much easier.
Performance of the Week
Team Ballydoyle were in excellent form around the Roodee. There were big-race wins for Amelia Earhart, Benvenuto Cellini, Constitution River, Jan Brueghel and Lambourn. Ryan Moore was on board for all of these wins for trainer Aidan O'Brien. The ride on Lambourn to win the Huxley Stakes was particularly excellent. Committed off the front, Moore knew he had to get to work on last year's Derby winner to ensure a stamina test and keep him rolling around a sharp track. He rides Chester superbly, and it's a course that showcases his strength, class, and race craft.
Ballydoyle go to these trials knowing exactly what they want to find out about each horse. We found out that Benvenuto Cellini is a worthy Derby favourite after winning the Chester Vase. He is a striking colt, one that is so easy looking on the eye that you automatically save a soft spot for him in your heart. He proved his stamina in winning the Cheshire Oaks and had a good turn of foot. He was well balanced around Chester and ran well to the line in a really fast time. It was also a performance that he can improve upon fitness-wise. He's a beautiful looker and mover. He's a worthy Derby favourite but will need the ground on the quicker side to be seen to best effect.
Selections of the Day
The Ballydoyle bandwagon shows no signs of slowing down, and a French Guineas double could easily be in the offing. Puerto Rico is 11-8 (Sky Bet) to take out the French 2,000 Guineas (Longchamp, 2.50), and that seems reasonable enough. Stall seven is an okay berth for this classy three-year-old, who signed off his juvenile year with two French Group Ones. O'Brien seems to send his speediest top-notcher here, and he can emulate Henri Matisse (2025) and St Mark's Basilica (2021) in winning this French Classic and securing a third win in six years for Ballydoyle.
Diamond Necklace is even shorter at Evens (Paddy Power) for the powerful Moore and O'Brien combination, but that's also understandable. She looked a filly right out of the top drawer when winning the Prix Marcel Boussac last year at Arc weekend. Stall three is ideal to obtain a handy position to strike from, and she can extend her unbeaten run to four and give O'Brien just a second French 1,000 Guineas (Longchamp, 3.25) win and a first in 25 years. Both Puerto Rico and Diamond Necklace look the real deal, have the best form in the book and are not inconvenienced by the draw. The shop-around double is around 15-4 with Sky Bet.
