Chester Cup: intriguing five-year-olds catch Tom Collins' eye in Friday's feature

Who was the last favourite to win the Chester Cup? Perhaps your mind instantly went to the Donald McCain-trained Overturn in 2011, or even Falcon Eight for Dermot Weld and Frankie Dettori last year. Both are incorrect answers. Those who said Anak Putra, who landed a major gamble in 2004, have gained some respect.

The ongoing 18-year drought for a winning jolly is fairly easily explained by contemplating numerous factors - space to manoeuvre is at a premium around the tight left-handed turns on the Roodee and therefore hard-luck stories are expected; tentative punting as a result of the unique topography of the track; the Chester Cup regularly attracts a deep field, and the draw can cause havoc to numerous well-fancied runners.

Despite winning the race 12 months ago, Falcon Eight appears to be a pretty questionable favourite this time around. The son of Galileo has been a slow burner throughout his career and has made just 14 starts over the last four years. Dermot Weld has carefully chosen this stayer’s targets, so the fact that he returns here could be seen as a positive.

There is no denying that he was impressive here last season, especially given he missed the break, but he had the benefit of clear sailing while others struggled for racing room and perhaps a two-length margin flattered him. That was his first run after a lengthy absence, which is an important point to consider given his stellar record when fresh. He doesn’t have that benefit this year.

Falcon Eight ran very well in Grade 2 company at Fairyhouse last month and has drawn nicely in stall six, but I would be surprised if everything panned out as smoothly in the closing stages this time around. Given you can make a case for plenty of his rivals, it seems pretty folly to back Falcon Eight to retain his crown.

Another runner with a good course record is Solent Gateway, whose Chester form figures read 39221. Although he’s unproven over this kind of trip, last season’s two-mile victory indicated it shouldn’t be a problem and a recent spin around Epsom gave clear signs that his time is near. I prefer him to Falcon Eight, but he won’t be missed in the market.

My book has Solent Gateway and Coltrane fighting for favouritism, so the fact that the latter is almost two points bigger in the market makes him a bet. As I mentioned in my tipping article on Wednesday, Andrew Balding’s record at Chester is exceptional (86/420, 20 per cent strike-rate, +£75.61 to £1 level stakes) and there is a good chance that this race has been the plan from a long way out.

The five-year-old son of Mastercraftsman racked up three wins, which included the competitive Melrose Handicap at York, from his first five starts before finishing ninth of 34 in the Cesarewitch back in 2020. To tackle such a lofty race with so little experience shows the regard that Coltrane was held in, and connections clearly believed his mark (97) underestimated him.

He had an enforced 396-day layoff after York, which caused him to miss the whole 2021 turf season, but he showed promise in four all-weather starts over the winter and the switch back to grass should see him in much better light. Drawn in stall two and now able to compete off just 95, Coltrane should be a huge player.

The other horse that catches my eye is Haliphon, who represents 2018 winning trainer Ian Williams. Although he is another five-year-old, Haliphon has far more experience than Coltrane after 21 starts - 18 of which came in France for Francis-Henri Graffard. 

He was largely kept to trips around a mile before joining Williams, who wants to exploit his stamina and has progressively stepped him up to 2m this season. Haliphon’s penultimate start in the Queen’s Cup at Musselburgh indicated that he needs a real test and stop-start fractions wouldn’t have suited last time out.

Williams now goes for broke over this 2m2½f trip and, on the evidence of his three British runs to date, a mark of 88 leaves him on the right side of the handicapper. He will need luck in running given his deep-closing style, but he should stay on late when others cry enough.

Recommended bets

Coltrane (3.15 Chester) @ 7
Haliphon (3.15 Chester) @ 19.5