Start of the Chester Festival

Chester, Wednesday 10 May: The three-day Festival at Chester begins today with a seven-race programme. The Chester Vase Stakes (4th race/16.15pm/111,000 pounds/2472m) takes centre stage.

Of the five three-year-olds, the John and Thady Gosden-trained Arrest (Frankie Dettori) stands out. The season debutant won two of his four starts and finished a close second in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud (Group 1), well ahead of Adelaide River (Ryan Moore), for whom Aidan O`Brien is responsible. Further placings were achieved by the Australia son in the Prix des Chenes (Group 3) and in the Beresford Stakes (Group 2). Another promising contender is Hadrianus (Franny Norton), who is by Galileo and was a good second at Epsom. Two wins on the dirt track speak in favour of Duke Of Oxford (Hector Crouch), but like Galactic Jack (Oisin Murphy), who recently played no part at Listed level in Newmarket, he enters as an outsider.