Horse Racing Betting Tips: Kew Gardens set to bloom in Ormonde
CLASS is class and those oozing it tend to come to the fore in Chester’s Group Three Boodles Diamond Ormonde Stakes (3.35pm).
That was certainly the case 12 months ago when Idaho comfortably saw off inferior opposition to give Aidan O’Brien his fourth win in the race.
He had been running in international Group Ones and although he hadn’t managed to win one, he had run respectably a number of times in that company.
This year the undoubted class act is KEW GARDENS for the same yard on the back of his win in the St Leger last September.
This son of Galileo used his stamina that day, but he also landed the Group One Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp over 1m4f last summer, showing he also has the necessary speed in his locker.
Beaten just four lengths by Enable in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe marked him down as a genuine Group One middle-to-long distance horse for this season and he looks the standout here.
The only real worry is that he has to carry a Group One penalty for his St Leger victory, while he would also probably prefer a slightly sounder surface.
Regardless of those two slight concerns, I think he will have too much for them and is worth backing at Evens with Coral.
Ian Williams has declared Magic Circle for this race and tomorrow’s Chester Cup and has said he and owner Marwan Koukash will make a final decision this morning.
He is only rated 4lbs inferior to Kew Gardens and will receive 7lbs, so you can certainly make a case for him from a handicapping perspective at 7/2.
However, the best of his recent form has come at two miles plus and I worry if he has enough speed to cope with the favourite.
He is a very good stayer, but he burst blood vessels in the Melbourne Cup last time when sent off just 6/1 so we also need to see if that has left a mark.
Morando is next in the betting at 7/2 for the in-form Andrew Balding- Silvestre de Sousa combination.
This gelded son of Kendargent has some fair form in the book, notably when dead-heating Young Rascal in a Group Three at Newbury back in October.
That was over 1m4f, the furthest he had ever gone, so it has to be taken on trust that he will see out this 1m5½f given his breeding.
Cypress Creek is the Ballydoyle second string and he had some solid if not spectacular form last season.
The highlight was a two-mile Group Three win at Naas in September and you get the feeling his future is going to lie over staying distances.
Both Warnaq and Dalgarno look out of their depth here and are surely just trying to pick up a little bit of prize money.
Chester handicaps are notably tricky and I personally tend to tread very carefully with them.
That said, I can see LINCOLN PARK going well for Mick Appleby in the Deepbridge Capital Handicap (3.00pm) at 6/1 with Ladbrokes.
He has a lovely draw in stall three – eight of the past 10 winners have come from stall five or lower – and he didn’t run badly at Musselburgh last time.
The ground will be fine for him and he has a fair chance in a wide open race.
POINTERS
Lincoln Park e/w 3.00pm Chester
Kew Gardens 3.35pm Chester