Colony Selections: Wednesday 6th May
Good morning everyone,
Wednesday's flat racing programme is dominated by the opening day of Chester's May Festival. The Roodee stages two of the most informative early Classic trials - the Weatherbys Cheshire Oaks at 14:35 and the Boodles Chester Vase at 15:05 - alongside three competitive handicaps that always attract big fields. Kempton's evening all-weather card from 18:00 rounds out the day's flat racing.
Our free daily NAP - Watcha Snoop in the 15:40 at Chester - is already live on Instagram. Hugo Palmer's three-year-old gelding makes his handicap debut after a 200-day winter break, having won at 6 furlongs at Ascot last September as a juvenile. He is available at 7/1 with Jason Watson taking the ride in what is an interesting 12-runner Class 3 sprint.
⭐⭐⭐ NAP: Arctic Thunder | Chester | 16:45 | Class 3 Handicap, 7f | Advised: 2pt Win @ 13/2
Ed Walker's five-year-old gelding has not won since May 2024 but several times has caught the eye in defeat. Four runs back at Haydock he was an eyecatching 4th over seven furlongs in Class 3 company with the official comment reading "not clear run repeatedly" and three runs back at Newbury he was beaten only a length into 3rd in similar company. His seasonal return at Newbury two-and-a-half weeks ago over a shorter six furlongs trip will have blown away the cobwebs and regular partner Kieran Shoemark retains the ride.
The handicapper has lowered Arctic Thunder's mark to 85, his lowest rating since that last success and looks primed for a good campaign. Returning to this seven furlong trip is a positive and he's drawn handily in stall 6 in this 14-runner Roodee field where racing prominently pays. With the yard operating at a 23% strike rate over the past fortnight, the available price looks generous for a horse who is back to a winning mark and arrives race fit.
⭐⭐ NB1: Dancing With Drums | Kempton | 21:00 | Class 6 Handicap, 6f | Advised: 1pt Win @ 7/1
Former jockey Adam Kirby's young training operation has made a solid start, with a 20% strike rate and a 70% running-to-form rate over the past fortnight. Dancing With Drums is one of the horses he took on this spring and the four-year-old gelding has won twice in his career, both at six furlongs on the all-weather, in successive runs at Southwell and Lingfield in August and September last year. Today's race is a replica of those conditions and after a moderate couple of runs since returning from a winter break he can take a step forward tonight.
Charles Bishop takes the ride and the gelding goes off a mark of 56, just 1lb higher than the mark off which he won at Lingfield last September. His Wolverhampton run two starts ago is worth setting against the form figure - he was 5th but the racecard comment reads "denied a clear run 1.5 furlongs out", an excuse the form line does not capture. The available 7/1 in a standard Class 6 sprint is decent value for a horse with two recent wins under his belt in identical conditions.
⭐ NB2: Del Maro | Chester | 15:05 | Group 3 Chester Vase, 1m4½f | Advised: 1pt Each Way @ 9/2
Charlie Appleby and William Buick send Godolphin's three-year-old colt into the historic Chester Vase fresh off a relatively comfortable Class 3 Novice Stakes win at Yarmouth 25 days ago at odds of 4/7. Del Maro is by Camelot - a Derby winner whose progeny revel in stamina contests - out of the German-bred mare Diamanta (by Maxios), and juveniles with this breeding have historically revelled over middle distances once stepped up in trip.
The 1m4½f at Chester looks tailor-made for a pedigree built around stamina, and the Chester Vase has long been a favoured Derby trial route for the Appleby team. Aidan O'Brien's Benvenuto Cellini heads the market off a 193-day absence at prohibitively short odds, and at the available 9/2 on our selection looks generously priced for a colt whose breeding, profile and trainer pattern all point to a strong run on his first attempt at this trip.
💎 Value Bet: Brighton Boy | Chester | 14:05 | Class 2 Handicap, 7½f | Advised: 0.5pt Each Way @ 40/1
Brighton Boy was transferred from Andrew Balding to Tim Easterby on 13th April, ran for his new yard five days later at Thirsk where he was no closer than midfield, and now arrives at Chester with one important piece of form on his record - he won here over today's exact 7½ furlong course and distance back in September 2025, when he made the running and sustained a duel to score at Class 4 level.
Duran Fentiman takes the ride and the handicapper has lowered his mark to 83 - 3lb lower than that win and the lowest rating since he started handicapping nearly two years ago. Our selection is available at 40/1 in this 14-runner Class 2 field and he'll need plenty of luck from his stall 12 draw, but the course-and-distance flag, the lowered mark, and the freshly-installed yard combine to create a profile that the market has dismissed entirely, but we think has a glimmer of hope. Four-place each-way terms are available with most firms.
Good luck!
The Pollinator