Today’s Ladbrokes Chester Cup (3.05 p.m.), run over a distance of more than two miles and two furlongs, is an intriguing affair with 15 runners competing for a first prize of more than £86,000.
The best handicapped horse on the basis of his hurdles form is the likely favourite East India Dock, who was third in the Grade 1 JCB Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March and can run off a lenient official flat mark of 89 today.
The slight downsides to his chances are that he is untried at such a marathon trip as this on the flat and he has no experience of the unique twists and turns of Chester. East India Dock is the most likely winner of the race but at odds of 7-2 I am happy to look elsewhere.
Hot Fuss, the selection of two top tipsters in Tom Segal (Pricewise in the Racing Post) and Matt Brocklebank (sportinglife.com), also ran a cracker at the Cheltenham Festival when fourth, despite being too close to a red-hot pace, in the Fred Winter juvenile handicap hurdle.
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