Hugo Palmer Chester Day Two runners blog: 'He's a nimble horse who looks built for Chester'

Hugo Palmer has 10 runners on Day Two at Chester on Thursday, May 7, 2026. The Coral ambassador previews them all in his latest exclusive blog.

Hugo Palmer Chester Day Two runners blog - May 7, 2026

Hugo Palmer Chester Day Two runners schedule

• Roman Dragon, Stratusnine & Dubai Bling - Chester - 1.30 race odds

• Jazz Queen, Donegal Rose & Koodini - Chester - 2.05 race odds

• I’m Just Ken & King Of Thunder - Chester - 3.40 race odds

• Seagolazo - Chester - 4.10 race odds

• Be The Standard - Chester - 4.45 race odds

1.30 – Roman Dragon, Stratusnine & Dubai Bling

A busy day for us, and hopefully a day we can get into the winners’ enclosure. We run three in the opener, before the draw was made for this race I was actually thinking I wouldn’t be surprised if they filled the first three places, they’re all in such super order!

I gave Oisin [Murphy] the choice of which one to ride, and he picked Roman Dragon, who goes off the same mark he won this race off last year, is drawn well in stall three, and came back in fine fettle from Bahrain. He’s also a much better horse around Chester than anywhere else, he’s a local favourite and I’m sure he’ll be well backed.

If I was Oisin, I think I may just have picked Dubai Bling, as he’s in sparkling form and seems to have just improved, although he has never been around a bend, so we don’t know how he’ll handle that. There’s nothing wrong with Stratusnine either, he’s just drawn that bit wider than the other pair in stall seven.  We go there with three very good horses, I just hope one of them can win it.

2.05 – Jazz Queen, Donegal Rose & Koodini

We also run three in the maiden. Oisin rode Jazz Queen on debut last month, but she’s drawn in ten here, so he rides Donegal Rose, another who had her first run last month. Both fillies will sharpen up enormously for those runs, that high draw for Jazz Queen is annoying, as she ran well at Newmarket considering she was a bit green, and she’s been working well since.

Donegal Rose was smartly into stride at Leicester, and was then hampered late on as she was really getting the hang of things. She’s the shortest-priced of our trio here, and it feels as if the market has it about right.

Koodini is having his first run, this will probably be the only time we run him over five furlongs, as he’s one for six and maybe even seven furlongs in time, but I do like him and have no doubt he is up to winning races. As with the first race, I hope one of them can win it, and the other two run well.