Forecast: Light rain
Temp: 5.7° - 8.8°
Rainfall: 2.30mm
Wind: 19.2 mph SE
Chester Course Guide
Considered to be the oldest racing venue in England; racing around Chester’s tight ‘Roodee’ track has taken place since 1539 and some 500 years on the track itself has changed very little – the city walls and banks of the River Dee shaping two thirds of the circuit.
The sharp nature of the course means that it races exclusively on the Flat and Chester’s May Festival is now considered to be one of the highlights of the Flat racing year. Highlight of the three-day Festival is the historic Chester Cup, a two and a quarter mile handicap, but the fixture also boasts Classic trials in the shape of the Chester Vase, Dee Stakes and Cheshire Oaks, plus valuable races for older horses in the Huxley Stakes and Ormonde Stakes.
Among the top-class horses to have been successful at the course’s May Festival are Enable, Light Shift, Noble Mission, Shergar, Old Vic, Ruler Of The World, Teenoso, Harbinger, St Nicholas Abbey, Pentire, Oath and Kris Kin.
Left handed, very sharp. A circular course that's only just over a mile round, it's on the turn almost throughout and has a run-in of under two furlongs, heavily favoring those that race to the fore as it's easy to find trouble with little time to recover. A low draw at Chester is a huge advantage, even in middle-distance races, and particularly so in large fields.
At Chester, for most of any race, your horse will be leading with its near-fore, the one closer to the inside rail. And you have only two chances to change that: in the short home straight, or after the winning post in contests longer than a full circuit. You need to maximise those if you want to make ground or get a breather into one, because it’s not natural for a horse to lead on its near-fore all the way. It can pay to be brave in sprints. The straight may be short, but there’s still time to ride a finish.
View from the saddle: Jason Weaver
Address & Contact
Chester Race Company
The Racecourse
Chester
CH1 2LY
01244 304 600
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Advance Going
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Current Weather today at: Chester
Today
Tomorrow
Forecast: Drizzle
Temp: 3.2° - 8.1°
Rainfall: 0.31mm
Wind: 9.0 mph E
Last Update: 24/01/2026 17:00
Replays & Results
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Distance Horse (Going) Date Winning time 5f 15y Kinswoman (Good to Firm) 30 Aug 2025 58.78s 6f 17y Miraculous (Good) 12 Jul 2025 1m 11.31s 7f 1y Holguin (Good) 12 Jul 2025 1m 23.65s 7f 127y Yanifer (Good) 30 Aug 2025 1m 29.98s 1m 2f 70y Passenger (Good to Firm) 10 May 2024 2m 5.24s 1m 3f 75y Box To Box (Good) 08 Jul 2022 2m 26.59s 1m 4f 63y L'eagle Aid (Good) 12 Jul 2025 2m 33.92s 1m 5f 84y Point Lonsdale (Good) 09 May 2024 2m 49.17s 1m 6f 87y Whatsgoingonmarvin (Good) 12 Jul 2025 3m 2.9s 1m 7f 196y The Gadget Man (Good) 20 Aug 2022 3m 21.35s 2m 2f 140y Zoffee (Good to Firm) 10 May 2024 3m 59.16s -
Trainer Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L H Palmer 199 32 £457,049 16.08% -£4.13 A M Balding 136 31 £512,673 22.79% £25.71 C Johnston 96 13 £111,920 13.54% -£42.63 T D Easterby 110 12 £135,496 10.91% -£11.00 A P O'Brien 19 10 £610,002 52.63% £6.46 R A Fahey 89 9 £132,185 10.11% -£23.42 W J Haggas 31 9 £180,760 29.03% £2.04 R M Beckett 44 9 £168,467 20.45% -£11.19 K R Burke 49 8 £151,963 16.33% -£9.17 Ian Williams 127 7 £78,959 5.51% -£61.00 -
Jockey Runners Wins Prize Money Strike-Rate P/L F Norton 118 15 £149,624 12.71% -£42.41 Jason Watson 75 15 £179,627 20% £7.86 R L Moore 29 13 £668,606 44.83% £0.96 J Fanning 47 10 £86,911 21.28% £0.79 Jason Hart 81 9 £110,618 11.11% -£48.31 David Probert 68 8 £108,123 11.76% -£0.75 Oisin Murphy 44 7 £193,972 15.91% -£12.54 Rob Hornby 46 7 £215,192 15.22% -£8.00 R Kingscote 63 6 £134,323 9.52% -£31.05 W Buick 35 6 £165,060 17.14% £2.38
