soon led, ridden and headed halfway, soon weakened
led early, led again halfway, ridden over 1f out, headed and edged left inside final furlong, soon weakened
with leaders, lost place when not much room halfway, soon weakened
behind, not clear run halfway, ridden, switched right and headway over 1f out, stayed on to go 2nd inside final furlong, not quicken towards finish
prominent, ridden halfway, weakened over 1f out
in touch, ridden halfway, soon weakened
behind, ridden and headway over 1f out, led inside final furlong, ran on
in touch, ridden halfway, soon outpaced
chased leaders, ridden 2f out, one pace final furlong
A hard one to go out on, and only a tentative vote goes to Brave Burt over Midnight Parkes, Blue Maeve and The Fisio. Not many stand out here but Brave Burt may be the one as he handles the ground and is on the same sort of mark as when landing a decent handicap at Ascot two years ago. Dandy Nicholls, still on cloud nine no doubt after landing the Nunthorpe, is sure to place the seven-year-old to good effect soon, and with Seb Sanders on board, he is taken to improve on his disappointing effort at York earlier this week. He was heavily eased when beaten behind Fonthill Road though, so it is not as bad as it looks at first glance, and with a fair draw in stall six, he should fare better. Midnight Parkes has been around for three years but has never raced at Chester before. It remains to be seen how he will handle the sharp turns, although he is capable at best. Blue Maeve has a poor draw but has been consistent in the main, while The Fisio had the misfortune to still have his blindfold on when the stalls opened at Beverley. He cannot be that unlucky this time and is another to consider. All in all, bets should be kept to a minimum, but we take Brave Burt to bounce back to form under topweight.
