Chester Vase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (May Meeting)

Our preview of the Chester Vase, a race contested over 1m4½f at Chester during the May Meeting, outlines the most significant winning records, details the accomplishments of leading trainers and jockeys and digs into the historical trends.
Chester Vase Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (May Meeting)
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Expert Guide

You know how punters get lost in too much data or bet blindly? I break down the stats and trends so you can feel confident you’re betting with more than just gut instinct.

2027 Chester Vase Preview

The Group 3 Chester Vase is a race that is open to colts and geldings who are three-year-olds. The race was established in 1907 and is today run over a trip of one mile, four furlongs and sixty-three yards, having originally been run over a furlong further.

The race features during the Chester May Meeting, and you can get some top-class participants in the race, which is because it serves as a trial for the Epsom Derby.

Chester Vase Information:

To see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are tipping throughout the card that includes this race, head over to the Chester tips on the day of the race. Do they agree with the runners on the trend shortlist, or are they predicting other runners? You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Other Principal races during the Chester May Meeting section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Chester Vase market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2022, when the race had an over-round of 106%. The race in 2008 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 118%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Chester Vase, the over-round has been 111%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £111 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 Chester Vase Trends. See which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal. We also have a section that looks at the Chester Vase Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Chester Vase races over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Golden Sword (2:33.86) in 2009
  2. Benvenuto Cellini (2:35.22) in 2026
  3. Papal Bull (2:35.24) in 2006

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 20 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the Chester Vase next time out, then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -2.50. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2027 Chester Vase.

Over the last 20 renewals, it was Golden Sword, trained by A P O'Brien and ridden by Colm O'Donoghue, who set the fastest winning time in the Chester Vase. That runner won the race in a time of 2:33.86 in 2009. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer John & Thady Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori with Arrest who set the slowest winning time; the race-winning time was 2:52.31 in the 2023 renewal.

What the expert says...
Between 2006 and 2025, every winner of the Chester Vase who ran again went on to run in the Epsom Derby next time out. Ruler Of The World (2013) went on to win the Derby, and we had to wait until 2025 for the next to do so, with Lambourn winning the Derby.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Chester Vase Past Winners

Here are the Chester Vase past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the race year, the winning horse, and the horse's age & weight. Also detailed is the stall from which the horse came and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Chester Vase are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2026
2:35.22
Benvenuto Cellini (IRE)
3yo 9-6 (5 of 5) 2/9F
Ryan Moore
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2025
2:40.12
Lambourn (IRE)
3yo 9-2 (7 of 8) 11/8F
Ryan Moore
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2024
2:38.89
Hidden Law (IRE)
3yo 9-2 (2 of 6) 9/4
William Buick
Charlie Appleby (GB)
2023
2:52.31
Arrest (IRE)
3yo 9-2 (3 of 5) 10/11F
Frankie Dettori
John & Thady Gosden (GB)
2022
2:43.36
Changingoftheguard (IRE)
3yo 9-2 (2 of 4) 100/30
Ryan Moore
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2021
2:45.83
Youth Spirit (IRE)
3yo 9-0 (4 of 6) 15/2
Tom Marquand
Andrew Balding (GB)
2019
2:42.91
Sir Dragonet (IRE)
3yo 9-0 (8 of 7) 13/2
Donnacha O'Brien
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2018
2:39.55
Young Rascal (FR)
3yo 9-0 (2 of 10) 100/30
James Doyle
William Haggas (GB)
2017
2:35.84
Our Venice Beach (IRE)
3yo 9-0 (3 of 8) 5/2F
Ryan Moore
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2016
2:41.07
US Army Ranger (IRE)
3yo 9-0 (3 of 6) 4/11F
Ryan Moore
A P O'Brien (IRE)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Chester Vase have been based:

  • IRE: 12 winners with an additional 11 placings from 38 runners
  • GB: 8 winners with an additional 12 placings from 85 runners
  • SAF: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
  • HK: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

2026 Chester Vase Replay


Chester Vase Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Chester Vase over the last 20 renewals is A P O'Brien, who has won the race twelve times, with those twelve winners coming from Soldier Of Fortune (2007), Golden Sword (2009), Treasure Beach (2011), Ruler Of The World (2013), Orchestra (2014), Hans Holbein (2015), US Army Ranger (2016), Our Venice Beach (2017), Sir Dragonet (2019), Changingoftheguard (2022), Lambourn (2025) and Benvenuto Cellini (2026). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Chester Vase is Sir Michael Stoute (2 wins).

Here are some of the top Chester Vase trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
A P O'Brien32-12-22+28.89+18.20
Sir Michael Stoute5-2-2-0.12-0.23
Andrew Balding14-1-2-5.50-5.11
William Haggas5-1-2-0.67-0.81
Charlie Appleby5-1-1-1.75-1.59
John & Thady Gosden3-1-1-1.09-1.43
Richard Fahey1-1-1+8.00+5.00
John Gosden6-0-4-6.00-1.74
Charles Hills3-0-1-3.00-1.75
K R Burke3-0-1-3.00-2.05

Chester Vase Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Chester Vase over the last 20 renewals is Ryan Moore, who has won the race ten times, with those ten winners coming from Doctor Fremantle (2008), Treasure Beach (2011), Ruler Of The World (2013), Orchestra (2014), Hans Holbein (2015), US Army Ranger (2016), Our Venice Beach (2017), Changingoftheguard (2022), Lambourn (2025) and Benvenuto Cellini (2026).

Here are some of the top Chester Vase jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Ryan Moore17-10-14+11.33+5.50
William Buick9-1-3-5.75-2.95
Tom Marquand3-1-2+5.50+4.56
James Doyle3-1-1+1.33+0.00
Tony Hamilton1-1-1+8.00+5.00
Jamie Spencer5-0-1-5.00-2.56
Oisin Murphy5-0-0-5.00-5.00
Franny Norton4-0-2-4.00-1.11
David Probert4-0-0-4.00-2.00
Joe Fanning3-0-1-3.00+1.00

Chester Vase Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +40.70, is when runners had 0 career starts with the jockey.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had a highest class run of Class 1 (G3), when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-25.

Here are the most recent winning draws, along with the further placings in brackets:

  • 2026: Winner in 5 (7) [5 Runners]
  • 2025: Winner in 7 (4,3) [8 Runners]
  • 2024: Winner in 2 (3) [6 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 3 (2) [5 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 2 [4 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Chester Vase is Newmarket (Rowley); there have been a total of 5 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (Rowley) last time out. The next best course, which has produced the second most winners, is Tipperary; there have been a total of 3 winners of this race who ran at Tipperary last time out.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Chester Vase:

  • Galileo (7 Wins)
  • Camelot (2 Wins)
  • Dubawi (2 Wins)
  • Frankel (2 Wins)
  • Montjeu (2 Wins)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Golden Sword in 2009, winning for A P O'Brien at odds of 25/1 under the guidance of Colm O'Donoghue. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 11 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2027 Chester Vase, remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.

Route to the Chester Vase

Many trainers target races as preparation for the Chester Vase. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2026 - Benvenuto Cellini
Doncaster - 3rd of 5 (7/4)
Futurity Trophy
2025 - Lambourn
Leopardstown - 2nd of 7 (9/1)
P.W. McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes
2024 - Hidden Law
Newbury - 1st of 10 (4/5)
Darley Confined Maiden Stakes
2023 - Arrest
Saint-Cloud - 2nd of 9 (33/10)
Criterium de Saint-Cloud
2022 - Changingoftheguard
Dundalk (AW) - 1st of 6 (4/9)
BetVictor Proud To Support Irish Racing Maiden
2021 - Youth Spirit
Newmarket (Rowley) - 4th of 8 (12/1)
bet365 Feilden Stakes
2019 - Sir Dragonet
Tipperary - 1st of 16 (14/1)
Fundraising Events At Tipperary Races Maiden
2018 - Young Rascal
Newbury - 1st of 20 (3/1)
Carter Jonas Maiden Stakes
2017 - Our Venice Beach
Tipperary - 1st of 8 (1/1)
Fundraising Events At Tipperary Races Maiden
2016 - US Army Ranger
Curragh - 1st of 10 (15/8)
Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Maiden

Other Principal races during the Chester May Meeting

Remember to head over to the Chester predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters are supporting in the Chester Vase. Below are the other principal races that we cover during the May Meeting, with links to each race blog as well as information for last year's winners.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Cheshire Oaks
Wednesday
Amelia Earhart (IRE)
3yo - 13/8
A P O'Brien
Ryan Moore
Chester Vase
Wednesday
Benvenuto Cellini (IRE)
3yo - 2/9
A P O'Brien
Ryan Moore
Dee Stakes
Thursday
Constitution River (FR)
3yo - 2/9
A P O'Brien
Ryan Moore
Ormonde Stakes
Thursday
Jan Brueghel (IRE)
5yo - 4/7
A P O'Brien
Ryan Moore
Huxley Stakes
Friday
Lambourn (IRE)
4yo - 6/4
A P O'Brien
Ryan Moore
Chester Cup
Friday
A Piece Of Heaven (FR)
8yo - 7/1
Joseph Patrick O'Brien
Dylan Browne McMonagle

Article Contributor Information

We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this Chester Vase Preview are Andy and James. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for Flat racing.

James Banting

James Banting

Expert Guide

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Association provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Expert Guide

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for flat racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful flat racing blogs for OLBG.

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