Daiquiri Bay is an interesting runner at Chester on Wednesday

May 5

It was almost a year ago to the day since Alan bought Daiquiri Bay for 62,000gn at the Guineas Breeze-Up sale, and, having shown plenty of promise on his racecourse debut at Newbury last October, we are all looking forward to seeing how this New Bay colt shapes on his reappearance in the 10-furlong maiden at Chester on Wednesday.

Obviously, the ground on the Roodee will be in stark contrast to that which Daiquiri Bay encountered at Newbury, where he stayed on strongly at the end of the mile to finish third to Centigrade and Furthur, both of whom had previous experience.

However, this extra two furlongs should suit Daiquiri Bay, and the form of that Newbury race received a boost when Furthur, who looks to have solid credentials in the Chester Vase on Wednesday, broke his maiden in style over the Berkshire course last month, while Ralph Beckett clearly thinks a lot of Centigrade, who is entered in the Derby.

We have a couple of runners over jumps tomorrow, Dickens heading for Ffos Las and Ernest Gray to Worcester. Dickens travelled strongly and won well at Hexham in March but failed to build on that performance at Plumpton next time, while Ernest Gray, much happier since being switched back to hurdles, would have a definite shout on his second at Warwick.

A line can safely be put through Ernest Gray’s subsequent disappointment at Doncaster as he has since undergone wind surgery, which suggests that all was not well on Town Moor, while cheekpieces replacing a visor could also be a plus.