Tote Placepot Pointers – Boodles May Festival TOTE Chester Cup Day

1:30 Chester – Leg One

11 runners are set to go to post in the opening leg of Friday’s Placepot at Chester and that means your selection needs to make it into the first three for your bet to continue. With the rain getting into the ground on Wednesday, it might be worth taking a chance on Fools Rush In who will appreciate any cut in the ground.

The 4yo has an excellent record at Chester, including two wins here last season, and with a plum draw in stall four, he can go well for new local trainer Hugo Palmer and notable booking of Ben Curtis for the first time.

2:05 Chester – Leg Two

Favourites have won three of the last five renewals of this handicap and that could bode well for Mujtaba who is battling out at the head of the market. He disappointed when sent off the hot favourite for the Lincoln at Doncaster, but is still unexposed and is worth giving another chance to here.

He’s already proven that he can handle the cambers of Chester with a success on the Roodee over 7½f last season and with Jim Crowley back in the saddle, a bold bid is expected.

2:40 Chester – Leg Three

Richard Fahey and Aidan O’Brien have saddled the last four winners of the Huxley Stakes, but with neither having a runner this year maybe jockey Ryan Moore is the way to go having ridden three of the last five winners.

He gets the leg up on Solid Stone, who has won his last two races on UK soil but disappointed somewhat when down the field out in Riyadh, so it would surprise to see him getting involved in the business end.

Instead, the only 4yo in the race, Megallan is the one to side with here. He was second in the Dante last season before winning a Group Three at Salisbury. A runner-up effort to Craven winner Masters Of The Seas at Newmarket already this season reads as a strong bit of form and makes him the standout pick.

3:15 Chester – Leg Four

Frankie Dettori and Falcon Eight aim to defend their Tote Chester Cup crown in leg four and although they make appeal for the Placepot with the 17 runners allowing four places, they look to have a tough ask in winning the race from a 5lb higher mark.

The connections of Solent Gateway mean he’ll be giving this a right good go, and he’s already had a win over two miles here at Chester. He was only narrowly beaten at Epsom off a mark of 90 just 17 days ago, and given his clear love of a quirky track, he’s fancied to go close off the same mark here.

Likewise, The Grand Visir is a strong Placepot contender. He rarely gives a bad account of himself and will appreciate the bit of give in the ground thanks to Wednesday’s rain. He was second in the race last year, but arrives on 2lb lower mark, which could make the difference given he was only beaten by two lengths last year.

3:45 Chester – Leg Five

The top two in the betting could certainly have this between them, but they’ve both been running over further than five furlongs of late, so this might not exactly be to their liking. With that in mind, a chance is taken on Blue De Vega. He has won twice over five furlongs since October, including a neck victory at Newbury last month. He’s gone up 3lb for that narrow victory but with Luke Catton taking off a handy 5lb, he’s a great chance of getting in the mix from stall three.

4:20 Chester – Leg Six

An apprentice race around Chester is never an easy one to work out, so we’re going for a horse that won’t lack experience where his jockey might. Heart Of Soul is a regular visitor to the Roodee, running no less than 22 times here and winning three times – all at today’s distance of 1m 4½f, including here last June.

That came off a mark of 80, and he’s 1lb less today, which is coincidentally the same mark off which he won this race for Ian Williams back in 2019. It looks like he’s been laid out for this again, so he’s a solid Placepot pick from stall one.

Leg One – Fools Rush In

Leg Two – Mujtaba

Leg Three – Megallan

Leg Four – Falcon Eight, Solent Gateway & The Grand Visir

Leg Five – Blue De Vega

Leg Six – Heart Of Soul

1 x 1 x 1 x 3 x 1 x 1 = 3 lines

Head to Tote.co.uk to get your placepot on.