Hugo Palmer Saturday runners blog: 'This has been the target ever since Royal Ascot'

Hugo Palmer shares his latest Coral ambassador blog, previewing his 11 runners at Doncaster, Chester and Bath on Saturday.

• Hawksbill - Doncaster - 1.15 race odds

• Enamorus & Emerald Coast - Chester - 1.35 race odds

• Grey Cuban - Chester - 2.05 race odds

• Roman Dragon - Doncaster - 2.25 race odds

• Zoffee - Chester - 2.40 race odds

• Ridgemaster - Bath - 3.28 race odds

• Box To Box - Chester - 4.00 race odds

• Mr Wonka - Doncaster - 4.15 race odds

• Miami Matrix - Chester - 4.35 race odds

• Kokinelli - Chester - 5.35 race odds

A busy Saturday around the country, and as always we are well represented at our local track, Chester. We start at Doncaster though with Hawksbill, who has been a frustrating horse this year, although that said, he hasn’t done a whole lot wrong. He ran very well at Chester last time, that was over 7 ½ furlongs and a return to a mile here will suit.

Generally we’ve avoided soft ground with him to date, but I think the ground here will be fine for him, he’s a stronger horse now and it will be on the easy side of good at worst.  It’s a competitive race as you’d expect for the money, but he seems in really good from and I think he goes there with a really good chance.

We run two in this maiden. Emerald Coast ran well at Chester on her debut run, she then disappointed on her second run but it maybe came a bit too soon for her, and we hope a return to Chester will suit her.

Enamorus has run well on both her starts, particularly on her second run, when she just ran into a nice filly of Ed Walker’s at Ascot [Princess Petrol]. Ghost Mode, rated 84, sets the bar here, but he’s not drawn as well as Enamorus, and if we can get out and on to the rail, we can keep the higher rated horses out wide.  If that happens I hope she can get the job done.

My theory with this race is that we’ve had negligible rain here in Chester, and I think we’ll be racing on good ground on Saturday, which I hope will be too quick for Hamish to be seen to best effect, and I think his presence scared a few off, so we’re looking at a small field.

Grey Cuban loves this track, he’s seemingly a stone better here than anywhere else, and we’ve got the plum draw in stall one. He will have to be better than he’s ever been, and he will need to stay further than he ever has, but I wouldn’t back against him doing so, and we’ll give it our best shot.

Roman Dragon has run a career best after career best this season, and I think he very nearly ran another career best at York last time, when he was drawn on the wrong side. He’s in great order, and I’d love him to win over a straight track here in the UK, it would be very satisfying.

He’s versatile as far as ground is concerned, and I think this 5 ½ furlongs trip will suit, but I am slightly concerned that we may not be drawn on the right side.

We know how much Zoffee likes Chester. He’s down in trip slightly here from his most recent starts but I don’t think that will be an issue. He is drawn out wide in stall ten, so Kevin Stott will have to be quick and clever to get him out and into the box seat. I couldn’t be happier with him, this has been the plan since Royal Ascot so let’s hope we can hit the bullseye.  

Ridgemaster has talent, but unfortunately he’s never shown any signs of wanting to use it! We’re up in trip and on heavy ground which might suit him, and this is not a good race, but he’s probably entering the last chance saloon.

Box To Box is in really good form, he loves this track and he’s drawn well, so we’re incredibly happy with him. There could be competition for the lead early on, but if he can cope with that, I hope he has a great chance of recording another course win.

Mr Wonka ran really well on debut at Sandown to finish fourth, and his work this week suggests he’s taken a big step forward from that. This is a £50,000 maiden, so it’s attracted a decent field as you’d expect, so he’ll need to take a step forward, but he’ll appreciate the step up in trip and will handle any ground, so we’re looking forward to trying.

Miami Matrix has been great this year, winning three times, including twice at Chester, although he’s perhaps not been quite so good away from here, which is frustrating. Cheekpieces didn’t seem to make a difference at York last time, although he ultimately wasn’t beaten that far. Back at a track he loves I hope he can go well from a good draw.

Kokinelli is a very well bred filly and so the most important thing for her value is to get a win into her, which it has been a struggle to do so far. She’s not the biggest and the most robust, so this jump jockeys race was perhaps not the most natural path to take, but she has run well over this course and distance this season, and this was the last opportunity to do so again this year, so it seemed the right race for her.

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