'We put her away for this' - who fancies their chances of winning the Lily Agnes?

Every year the Lily Agnes poses the same conundrum. A bunch of smart juveniles, many of whom have run only once and shown promise, come together around Chester's tight turns and, to make things even tougher, there are usually newcomers with huge potential lining up.

And so it is again, so what is the best way into the race? It's a contest some trainers love and some wouldn't even consider for their juveniles at such an early age, so with that in mind there probably isn't a better place to start than with the stable from which each runner hails.

George Boughey won it in 2021 with Navello and he is the trainer's only runner so far. It therefore looks significant that he returns with Night In Paris, who was second on her debut.

Night In Paris was sharp from the stalls on that occasion at Ripon and was beaten only a short head by winner Assertively, who is held in high regard and went off 2-1 favourite.

The front two pulled three and three-quarter lengths clear of the rest in a good time and that looks like the best piece of form on offer. Stall nine will make things tougher for Night In Paris here but she proved at Ripon that she can get away quickly, so she might make all.

Tom Dascombe has a winner and two places from nine runners in the last ten years and this was always a race he would target when he trained locally. It seems he is out to win it again this year as he saddles Seraphim Angel and Sir Geoff Morgan, who has a good draw in two.

Dascombe's replacement at Manor House, Hugo Palmer, runs a couple of newcomers. Oisin Murphy's presence on Arabian Cobra is a positive, while Jason Hart is on Herecomesthebear.

The other worthy of a mention is Daisy Inthe Breeze for Dominic Ffrench Davis. She should have no problem with the track as she won at Brighton on her debut, beating Sir Geoff Morgan, and Ffrench Davis loves Chester. He is 3-7 on the Roodee in the last five seasons.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

Hugo Palmer, trainer of Arabian Cobra and Herecomesthebear
We're not renowned for first-time-out two-year-old winners and both fillies are ready to start off in what looks an above-average running of the race.

Tom Dascombe, trainer of Sir Geoff Morgan and Seraphim Angel
Sir Geoff Morgan ran well at Brighton and has a good draw and should give a good account, as should Seraphim Angel, who did everything right until she came off the bridle at Newmarket. She'd never been off the bridle at home so she didn't know what was required.

Dominic French Davis, trainer of Daisy Inthe Breeze
She's a very sharp filly who won very well at Brighton only a week ago but she has come out of that race in such good shape we thought we'd go again. It will be interesting to see how she gets on up in class.

Rossa Ryan, rider of Flicka's Girl
She will enjoy the ground drying up and is a sharp two-year-old who is quick out of the stalls. Dave [Loughnane, trainer] has won the race before so knows what it takes.

Oliver Cole, joint-trainer of Kodibeat
She was our first juvenile winner of the season when winning at Kempton, after which we put her away for this. She's strengthened up a lot in the last few weeks and she has a decent draw so we're hopeful.

Ed Dunlop, trainer of Lady Lightning
Silvestre de Sousa rode work on her before she won at Wolverhampton when she showed she had no problems with going around a bend. She raced prominently that day and is drawn one here so there is plenty to like about her chances.
Reporting by David Milnes

Read these next:

Snooker world champion Kyren Wilson lining up another pot as he heads to Chester with opening-race favourite

Is there another top-class filly lurking in a highly competitive Cheshire Oaks?

Derby hopefuls put Classic credentials on the line - can anyone threaten Aidan O'Brien's hot favourite Grosvener Square?