Chester Racecourse Preview
Chester, 'The Roodee' as the circular course is known for races from May through to September, with around 14 race days.
Type of Racing: Flat racing only.
Highlights: The main meeting at Chester is The Boodles May Festival, which features all the Group races and one of the richest flat handicaps of the season, the Chester Cup.
The track has one Group 2 race in the shape of the Huxley Stakes, horses from the Huxley then normally run at Royal Ascot the following month. The race is worth around £70,000 and attracts runners from the cream of the training fraternity, Aidan O'Brien, Sir Michael Stoute, John Gosden, etc.
There are two Group 3 races, the Chester Vase and Ormonde Stakes and a host of Listed races. The Chester Vase is considered to be a Derby trial for Epsom as the sharp bends and turning nature of the track can be a guide to a horse handling a similar scenario Epsom presents.
The Listed Cheshire Oaks, the above applies to the fillies potentially heading for the Oaks at Epsom. The Dee Stakes is another listed race held during the May meetings.
TV Channel: Sky Sports Racing
Bookmaker Streaming Services Available from Paddy Power, Betfair and William Hill.
If you are going to the Chester races, then why not download the OLBG app to keep up to date with all the latest Chester tips at the track?
* All statistics below are based on the previous five years at Chester
Chester Outright Favourite Statistics
- Flat Handicaps: 95-319 (30%) -40.15
- Flat Non-Handicaps: 35-91 (38%) -15.58
Chester Racecourse Map
Flat: Left-handed tight course that is incredibly sharp; the majority of the full circuit consists of bends.
Chester Racecourse Address: The Racecourse, Chester, CH1 2LY
Chester Racecourse Telephone: 01244 304600
To buy tickets for a race day at Chester, head over to their official ticket booking webpage.
Chester Tips
The races are on the turn, seemingly the whole way, with the course only a mile in circumference. It can be hard to make up ground and catch front-runners over 5 furlongs; the short straight of only just over a furlong is very short.
Jockeys drawn on the inside know they have a big advantage and try and maximise their draw by getting out quickly and securing a rail position, but they still have to get the fractions right, dictating the pace. Races with more runners would show that higher numbers have even more of a disadvantage.
However, one word of caution, a jockey drawn wide would, in many cases, take action to negate the draw with a very positive ride. The bookies know about the draw, so if a wide-drawn horse is in the top 3 of the betting, then undertake some more form study of that wide-drawn horse.
If you are interested in predictions from elsewhere today, then head over to the main racing tips page to see which runners are being most tipped.
Chester Draw Bias
✅ The most profitable stall at Chester in the win market when breaking it down to race trips is stall 2 over a trip of 1m4½f, backing all runners in this stall over that trip over the past five years would have returned a profit of +34.84.
❌ When breaking Chester down into trips, you can look at which stall and trip combination has produced the worst LSP. That would be stall 1 over a trip of 7f, which has, over the last five years, produced an LSP of -52.10.
Here we have the draw bias for Chester taken into consideration in races with ten or more runners. We will break down the figures by race trips. Draws can be much more important in shorter trips, where runners do not have time to find their position during the race, meaning the draw is probably more important than in races over longer distances.
- Sprints (5f to 7½f)
- Middle Distance (1m2f to 1m5½f)
The following table shows a breakdown of a group of trips and shows how each position of the draw does, for example, in a twelve-runner race would be Low (Stalls 1-4), Mid (Stalls 5-8) and High (Stalls 9-12). The positions will always be the lowest stall number to the highest.
Chester Jockey and Trainer Statistics
Who are the best flat jockeys and trainers to bet on at Chester?
When looking at the leading trainers based on wins for those who are also showing a profit when backing all of their runners, then it is A M Balding who comes out at the top here at Chester with a total of forty-seven winners and an LSP of +53.66. Craig Lidster is the trainer to follow at Chester if you are backing eachway as they show the best LSP of all the trainers in the eachway markets, that is +30.70, which is courtesy of their eight placings (three winners). Ian Williams does not have a great record at Chester; their LSP of -103.50 has them stone dead bottom of the trainers' list, which has come from ten winners from two hundred twenty-five runners, which is a 4% strike rate.
Francis Norton is the leading jockey here at Chester with twenty-six winners, but you would have recorded a loss if you backed all of their rides, whilst following Ryan Moore would have returned the most winners (twenty-three) from a profitable jockey. If you are looking for a jockey to follow in the eachway market, then it is Tom Eaves who leads the way at Chester. They have had a total of ten placings, which includes four winners for an eachway LSP of +21.63. With an LSP of -56.27 at Chester, Francis Norton heads the list for worst jockeys at this course, which is a result of twenty-six winners from one hundred eighty-nine rides, which is a strike rate of 14%.
Chester Picks & Hints
Here are some factors at Chester for certain trainers or jockeys which have been profitable:
- 16-26 (62%) +25.81 - Backing Ryan Moore rides when in a Non-Handicap race
- 15-26 (58%) +21.58 - Backing Ryan Moore rides when on horses aged 3yo
- 14-25 (56%) +18.56 - Backing A P O'Brien runners when in a Non-Handicap race
- 11-21 (52%) +16.70 - Backing A P O'Brien runners when horses are aged 3yo
- 5-11 (45%) +12.92 - Backing Roger Varian runners when over a trip of 6f
Chester Top Jockey and Trainer Combinations
Here are the best trainer and jockey combinations here at Chester, based on the number of winners:
- 17 Wins: A P O'Brien & Ryan Moore
- 10 Wins: A M Balding & David Probert
- 10 Wins: A M Balding & Jason Watson
- 8 Wins: M Johnston & Francis Norton
- 7 Wins: T D Easterby & Sean Kirrane
Chester Top Trainers By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| A M Balding | 216-47-101 | +53.66 | +29.56 |
| Hugo Palmer | 232-41-77 | +14.50 | -8.35 |
| A P O'Brien | 29-17-22 | +27.19 | +12.12 |
| W J Haggas | 55-15-27 | +1.57 | -2.74 |
| Roger Varian | 50-12-22 | +4.99 | -2.34 |
| D Carroll | 54-10-20 | +32.83 | +16.36 |
| M L W Bell | 45-9-16 | +43.25 | +16.96 |
| D McCain Jnr | 42-7-12 | +8.75 | -0.55 |
| Miss J A Camacho | 33-6-15 | +18.00 | +16.72 |
| K A Ryan | 32-4-9 | +1.00 | -1.40 |
Chester Top Jockeys By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Moore | 50-23-33 | +24.32 | +6.15 |
| David Probert | 107-15-40 | +6.01 | +0.74 |
| Hayley Turner | 61-13-21 | +15.48 | +5.15 |
| Joe Fanning | 57-12-20 | +9.29 | +0.01 |
| Andrew Mullen | 68-9-17 | +10.63 | +5.01 |
| Cieren Fallon | 40-8-15 | +0.46 | -4.69 |
| Sean Kirrane | 60-7-15 | +9.00 | -4.34 |
| David Egan | 48-7-17 | +8.25 | +5.69 |
| Zak Wheatley | 46-7-12 | +31.08 | +12.46 |
| Jim Crowley | 34-7-14 | +22.10 | +12.96 |
With a huge combined experience of horse racing between them, this content has been created and is maintained by Darren Brett, James Banting and Andy Powell.
*All of the data for Chester Racecourse, which includes the trainer and jockey statistics, has been created using statistics available from HorseRaceBase. The data includes all races throughout the last five years (2021 to 2025).
Darren Brett
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James Banting
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Andy Powell
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