16:35 Chester

Saturday 13 September 2025

All13:3514:0514:4015:2316:0016:3517:0517:35

Oktoberfest Season Finale Saturday 20th September Handicap

Off time: 16:35 | Winning time: 1m 31.73s

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Selected odds by:

(9)

Probe⁴¹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-1| J: K T O'Neill| T: J Candlish| OR: 86| C| D

14/1

Returned to form on first visit to this course when getting on top close home in 7f handicap (good) in May. Creditable third of 7 back here with usual hood omitted off this mark last month and while stall 9 isn't ideal, he shouldn't be far away if avoiding traffic problems.

Form: 615073

(13)

Cruyff Turn⁴²

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: D Fentiman| T: T D Easterby| OR: 85| D

40/1

Built on encouraging reappearance at Redcar when scoring over 7f at the same course in April. Mixed bag since, though, and wide draw tempers any enthusiasm where his prospects here are concerned.

Form: 140020

(8)

Capital Guarantee¹⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-12| J: Ben Robinson| T: D O'Meara| OR: 83| D

20/1

Back to best for a third win of 2025 when narrowly prevailing at Ripon (1m, good to firm) last month. Didn't do much wrong when third off this 2 lb higher mark over the same C&D 9 days later and likely to be on the premises once more.

Form: 543513

(4)

Miami Matrix²²

Age: 3| Weight: 9-8| J: K Stott| T: H Palmer| OR: 84| CD

4/1

Gelded at the end of May and immediately showed the benefit of that procedure, landing back-to-back handicaps over this C&D. No show in Class 2 handicaps the last twice, but couldn't rule out back down in grade at this course for last year's winning yard.

Form: 371100

(2)

It'sneverjustone⁴⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: S De Sousa| T: D Loughnane| OR: 83

3/1

Gelded following 2-y-o campaign and on the up switched to handicaps this season, scoring at Ffos Las and Galway (both at around 7f on soft/good to soft) the last twice. Up total of 13 lb, but he has to be respected in his hat-trick bid from a handy draw nonetheless.

Form: 3-27511

(5)

Sailthisshipalone^p1¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-6| J: Barry McHugh| T: R A Fahey| OR: 77

14/1

Just the one win to his name from 17 starts and while a reproduction of his close third in the Carlisle Bell in June would give him a serious chance, he has failed to match that level of form in recent starts. Now tried in cheekpieces.

Form: 034765

(6)

Knights Gold⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 9-5| J: Cieren Fallon| T: Dr R Newland & J Insole| OR: 81| D

11/1

Recorded fourth win of the season when scoring at Ascot in July. Followed that with a solid third in a Glorious Goodwood handicap, but his form has taken a turn for the worse since and he needs to get back on track.

Form: 611307

(7)

Be Frank^v1⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 9-3| J: Rob Hornby| T: Ian Williams| OR: 74

13/2

Made a winning start to the season at Newmarket in May and more good efforts than bad ones to his name since, which include a creditable third of 13 over this C&D. Likely to make his presence felt, provided the first-time visor has the desired effect.

Form: 093654

(1)

Paws For Thought²⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 9-3| J: Pierre-Louis Jamin| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 74| C

15/2

Chester regular who has slipped to a dangerous mark, now 11 lb lower than when registering the latest of his 5 wins here last September. Back to form when second at Haydock on penultimate start and subsequent Carlisle run can be ignored (found to be lame), so there is cause for optimism.

Form: 998927

(10)

Fire Flame^h²⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 9-1| J: Aidan Keeley| T: R Varian| OR: 77

18/1

Lightly-raced gelding who opened his account in a first-time hood upped to 7f at Thirsk (good) last month. Stall 10 isn't ideal, but 5 lb rise looks manageable and likely to again benefit from a strong pace to aim at. High on the shortlist.

Form: 530-681

(3)

Giant¹

Age: 5| Weight: 8-11| J: Joanna Mason| T: Ian Williams| OR: 68| BF| D

5/1

Made every post a winning one when scoring on last month's yard debut at Chelmsford (1m) and ran well here (6f) on Friday, just bumping into one who had dropped in the weights. Well drawn again turned out quickly.

Form: 689512

Non-Runners

(12)

Blue Prince¹⁶

Weight: 9-13| Age: 4

T: P D Evans J: Non Runner

(11)

Marquis Pompeo¹⁰

Weight: 9-2| Age: 3

T: C Johnston J: S D Bowen

Forecasts

It'sneverjustone (3/1), Miami Matrix (4/1), Giant (5/1), Be Frank (13/2), Paws For Thought (15/2), Knights Gold (11/1), Marquis Pompeo (11/1), Probe (14/1), Sailthisshipalone (14/1), Fire Flame (18/1), Capital Guarantee (20/1), Blue Prince (25/1), Cruyff Turn (40/1)

Well-drawn in stall two, IT'SNEVERJUSTONE is taken to complete the hat-trick. He appears to be an uncomplicated type and while a combined 13 lb rise for his recent victories at Ffos Las and Galway will make things tougher, there's a good chance that he has more in the locker. Fire Flame is feared most, despite a tricky draw, while Capital Guarantee and, if he goes to post, Giant should also have parts to play.