2023 Chester Cup Tips - Odds, trends and two against the field

Jon Vine

Editor

Last updated: 11 May 2023

Jon Vine 11 May 2023

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Odds, trends and betting predictions for the 2023 Chester Cup
This historic handicap headlines the card at Chester on Friday 12th May
Call My Bluff and Calling The Wind are our two against the field

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Harry Bentley riding Call My Bluff (yellow cap) win The Ladbrokes Watch Racing Online For Free Handicap at Goodwood. (Getty)

The third and final card at Chester's May Festival is headlined by one of the biggest betting races of the year, the Chester Cup. This 18-furlong handicap was first staged on the Roodee way back in 1824, and 17 of flat racing's best stayers were confirmed ahead of Friday's renewal.

Here's our free guide to the 2023 Chester Cup, featuring the latest odds, key trends and our best betting tips.

2023 Chester Cup Odds

Name	Odds
Falcon Eight	6/1
Zoffee	7/1
Metier	7/1
Call My Bluff	10/1
Rajinsky	10/1
Calling The Wind	11/1
Emiyn	11/1
Tritonic	11/1
Bar	14/1

2023 Chester Cup Trends

14 of the last 16 winners went off at 16/1 or shorter (Only 1 winning favourite)
13 of the last 16 winners carried between 8-11 and 9-04
13 of the last 16 winners were aged between 4 and 6
13 of the last 16 winners were drawn in stall 11 or lower (73% of the first three finishers in last 16 years were drawn 11 or lower)
12 of the last 16 winners had won at Class Two level or above
11 of the last 16 winners had won over 2m
11 of the last 16 winners were having their first run at Chester (4 of the other 5 ran in the last Chester Cup)
10 of the last 16 winners had run at least once that year

Since 1988, only two horses have carried more than 9-06 to victory in the Chester Cup. The last to do so was, actually Falcon Eight, scored under 9-10 with Frankie Dettori in the saddle two years ago. Dermot Weld's raider will have to lumber three pounds more around Chester this year, but Ryan Moore's mount is drawn nicely down in stall two.

The ground may have come up favourable soft for Metier, but the draw certainly didn't do Harry Fry's charge any favours. Such is the strength of the low draw bias around Chester, I won't be considering any runner drawn wider than stall 11.

2023 Chester Cup Tip 1 - Call My Bluff

Call My Bluff E/W2023 Chester Cup Tip 1 GET 10/1 HERE

Novel Legend was the ante-post favourite for this year's contest, but missed the cut by just one place. CALL MY BLUFF (10/1) finished a very good second behind Novel Legend on his reappearance at Newbury, for which the handicapper upped his mark by two pounds to a career-high mark of 90.

Call My Bluff started winning for Dominic Ffrench Davis off a lowly rating of 58 back in 2020. Having won three times on slow ground that year and twice the following season - including a victory here at Chester - Call My Bluff failed to win last term, but continued his progression with a series of fine performances.

John Egan's mount finished a close third in last season's Chester Plate, third behind Rajinsky in the Cesarewich Trial and was only beaten a head by Emiyn in the Watergate Cup held over this course-and-distance. Call My Bluff has a run under his belt, plenty of strong course form around Chester, an excellent draw down in stall two and a low weight of just 8-6 to carry. Ffrench Davis' six-year-old has plenty going for him.

2023 Chester Cup Tip 2 - Calling The Wind

Calling The Wind E/W2023 Chester Cup Tip 2GET 11/1 HERE

Another who is proven over this marathon distance is CALLING THE WIND (11/1), who won the Goodwood Handicap at the Glorious Meeting back in 2021 and rounded off that season with excellent placed efforts in the Cesarewitch and the Doncaster Handicap.

Like Call My Bluff, Calling The Wind endured a winless campaign in 2022. Richard Hughes was forced to run mainly in conditions races, due to his seven-year-old's three-figure handicap mark, with his only outing in a handicap coming in the Irish Cesarewitch, where Calling The Wind met trouble in running and was eventually beaten seven-and-a-half lengths.

Calling The Wind ran very well on his reappearance at Wolverhampton back in March, losing out to Earlofthecotswolds by a length, after which the handicapper dropped his mark by another pound down to 100. Hughes' stayer has never raced around Chester before, which isn't a big deal according to the trends, and he'll be ridden by Jamie Spencer - a two-time winner of this famous handicap.

Verdict

2023 Chester Cup

Call My Bluff and Calling The Wind are our two against the field for the 2023 Chester Cup.

Call My Bluff

Each-Way

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Calling The Wind

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