Andrew heads to Chester and the first day of the May meeting for his two recommended bets/trades on Wednesday, May 8th. 

CHESTER 2.35

The ground was officially heavy (soft in places) at Pontefract’s opening meeting on April 2^nd and plenty of punters, myself included, had expected the runners to track over to the near side rail in the straight. However, they remained far side and those drawn low enjoyed a big advantage, with the winners drawn 2 of 9, 2 of 3, 1 of 5, 1 of 8, 4 of 5, 5 of 6 and 3 of 12. My usual Pontefract Placepot approach is to perm stalls 2, 3, and 4 in every race (stall 1 is usually over-represented) but with doubts about the draw bias I didn’t play and watched in horror as the first three in the opening 6f novices’ contest were drawn 2, 3 and 4 and priced at 12-1, 150-1 and 80-1, blowing the Placepot apart (it paid £6,506.40 to a £1 stake). DANDY DEVIL (stall 8 of 9), the 2-1 second favourite for that race, ducked right at the start and was always trapped wide, beating only one home. Richard Fahey’s colt, who scored over 5f at Newcastle on his debut last month, can be forgiven his effort and is taken to bounce back now returned to the minimum trip from a reasonable draw in stall 5 of 11. Buy in the Spreadex 50-25-10 market or take a fixed odds price.

Recommendation: Back DANDY DEVIL in Chester 2.35

CHESTER 4.45

HE’S A GENTLEMAN trailed home in 15^th place when 22-1 for the Spring Mile at Doncaster on his reappearance but raced prominently without cover from the fierce headwind on the disadvantaged side of the track and the ground was softer than ideal. Hugo Palmer’s three-time all-weather winner has failed to score on turf but hasn’t had many opportunities at today’s 7f trip. His full record at this specialist distance, regardless of surface, stands at 50212 (1-5), with the fifth place (at Wolverhampton) by just over two lengths when patiently ridden from a wide draw on a day low-drawn prominent racers were favoured and the ‘duck egg’ when failing to handle the very soft ground in this race last year. His sole 7f run on good/faster going saw him finish second by a neck and though drawn wide in stall 10 today, his prominent style could see him well positioned on the heels of the leaders in the early stages. Buy in the Spreadex 50-30-20-10 market or back him each-way in the fixed odds betting.

Recommendation: Back HE’S A GENTLEMAN in Chester 4.45

Please note that the picks recommended in this blog post are based on past performance and should not be considered a guarantee for future winning outcomes, and it is important to remember that spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. The views within this preview are those of Andrew Mount, professional tipster and journalist, and not those of Spreadex.