Can Royal Ascot runner-up Lmay give the Gosdens another win in the Listed Chalice Stakes at Newmarket?

It is unusual for a top yard to show a level-stakes profit at a Group 1 course, but the Gosdens have managed that at Newmarket's July course since Thady joined father John on the licence.

Backing all of the pair's runners at the July course to £1 stakes would have made you a profit of £17.35. Those returns are in no small part down to the yard's recent exploits in the Chalice Stakes.

They have been responsible for the previous two winners at odds of 4-1 and 13-2, adding to the two successes John secured on his own in 2015 and 2017. Lmay is tasked with keeping up the good work.

Lmay seemed to appreciate a change of tactics when she sat prominently in the Copper Horse at Royal Ascot last time, outrunning odds of 40-1 behind well-handicapped winner Belloccio. We can expect her to be handy again down two furlongs in trip.

Ching Shih can boast the best Racing Post Rating in this field by dint of her second to Arrest in the 2023 Geoffrey Freer Stakes, although her inconsistent profile is off-putting.

The Gosdens should have a good line into the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Fairy Glen. The daughter of Farhh beat their well-regarded three-year-old Beeley in good style on the all-weather last time, although RPRs suggest Beeley underperformed in a major way and this unexposed sort has something to find up in class.

Arguably the most interesting runner of all is Persist. She shaped okay on her first start for George Boughey in France last time and connections have convinced Jamie Spencer to take the mount, his only one of the day. That looks significant.
Race analysis by Robbie Wilders

What they say

David Simcock, trainer of Ching Shih
She was disappointing here in a similar contest last time, when we probably rode her a bit more aggressively than we usually want to do. She's on a bit of a retrieval mission but ran well in a Pontefract Listed race the time before last.

James Owen, trainer of Climate Friendly and Ambiente Amigo
Climate Friendly has been training well and we're looking forward to getting her back on the track following her absence. We were very pleased with Ambiente's Amigo's run in a Listed race here last time, where she gained black type. She's growing up as she's learning to race and settle more now, so backing her up fairly quickly will help. Silvestre de Sousa gets on well with her too and we hope they can go a few places better than last time.

Divina Grace (yellow): sole course winner in the line-upCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Rae Guest, trainer of Divina Grace
She's been running well in Listed company the last twice when third at Pontefract and then fifth at Newmarket last time. She was stopped in her tracks that day and I thought she would have finished a bit closer, so if she runs like that we hope she'd go well. She likes Newmarket and fast ground too.

George Boughey, trainer of Dubai Crystal and Persist
Dubai Crystal needs the rain to arrive to take her chance. She's a filly who can be competitive off her current mark and we're looking for black type, but she needs the rain to fall. Persist ran well at Vichy in Group company and she has stepped forward physically from it. I've been pleased with her since then and the ground will be fast enough, but she should handle it.
Reporting by Matt Rennie

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