It's the Chester May meeting this week.(credit:
BuhSnarf)
There is plenty in store in the coming week, kicking off with Sunday's 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and also the Chester May meeting and the Punchestown Festival....
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Sunday May 1
Sunday is 1000 Guineas day at Newmarket and the fillies' race has a much more open look to it than the 2000 with the likes of Moonlight Cloud, Hooray and Memory all major players. Besides the Guineas, the fillies come to the fore at Newmarket with the nine-furlong Dahlia Stakes and the ten-furlong Pretty Polly Stakes, the latter of which can be a significant Oaks trial.
The other British Flat action on Sunday takes place at Hamilton and Sligo.
Over in Ireland there is Flat action at Gowran Park and jumping at Sligo, while further afield there will be British interest in the Far East as Wigmore Hall takes his chance in the QEII Cup at Sha Tin.
Monday May 2
There are five Flat meetings scheduled to take place in Britain on Friday: at Beverley, Chepstow, Kempton, Warwick and Windsor.
The day's Irish fare takes place over jumps at Down Royal and Limerick and on the Flat at the Curragh, the last-named venue hosting a pair of Group 3s.
Tuesday May 3
Bath, Catterick and Newcastle all host Flat fixtures on Tuesday to go with NH meetings at Exeter and Fakenham.
The Punchestown Festival also gets underway with a seven-race meeting that begins at 15:40. There are three Grade 1 events on the card, the most notable of which is the two-mile Champion Chase.
Wednesday May 4
Chester's May Meeting kicks off on Wednesday when the highlight is the two-and-a-quarter-mile Chester Cup. Oaks hopefuls will also be in action in the listed Cheshire Oaks.
The day's only other Flat card takes place on the fibresand at Southwell, but there is plenty of NH action to look forward to with fixtures scheduled for Kelso and Sedgefield as well as an all-hunter card at Cheltenham.
Back at Punchestown, Kauto Star will be in action in the Guinness Gold Cup, while there may well be some starts of the future on show in the Champion INH Flat Race.
Thursday May 5
The mile-and-a-half Chester Vase is one of two Group 3s on the second day of the May Meeting, the other being the ten-furlong Huxley Stakes. The Vase is a long-standing Derby trial, though it hasn't proved much of a guide to the Blue Riband in recent years, Shergar being the last horse to win both races, though it has unearthed some high-class colts since.
The day's other Flat action takes place at Ffos Las and Goodwood while there is jumping at Newton Abbot, Wincanton and Wetherby.
There are two further Grade 1s scheduled for Punchestown, namely the three-mile World Series Hurdle and the two-mile Ryanair Novice Chase.
Friday May 6
Friday's highlight at Chester, the Dee Stakes, has proved a rather better guide to the Derby than the Vase, with the likes of Oath and Kris Kin both doubling up in recent memory. The thirteen-furlong Ormonde Stakes is the day's other Group 3 there.
Elsewhere on the Flat there is Ascot, Hamilton, Lingfield, Nottingham and Ripon, while Aintree stages the day's sole British NH fixture.
Over at Punchestown the highlight is the Champion Hurdle, in which Hurricane Fly and Binocular will belatedly clash. The two-and-a-half-mile Champion Novice Hurdle is the other Grade 1 on the card.
Saturday May 7
There is an abundance of good racing to look forward to on the Flat and over jumps on Saturday. Ascot stages its Victoria Cup meeting while Derby and Oaks aspirants will be on show at Lingfield where it will be classic trials day. Nottingham, Thirsk and Warwick complete the day's Flat only fixtures.
Haydock stages a mixed card a listed race on the Flat, but the day's main interest there will arguably be the two-mile Swinton Handicap Hurdle.
Saturday is also the final day of the Punchestown Festival, where the highlight is the Champion Four Year Old Hurdle.