Chester May Festival 2024: Hidden Law breaks down after winning the Chester Vase

There was an extremely sad end to the Boodles Chester Vase Stakes when winner Hidden Law (9-4) suffered a fatal injury after the line on day one of the Boodles Chester May Festival.

The three-year-old son of Dubawi made it to the Group Three on the Roodee, finishing three lengths behind Liverpool FC fan William Buick’s Agenda (3-1), from the Aidan O’Brien stable. He won in true contender style in next month’s Derby at Epsom for Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby. But almost immediately after crossing the line, he took a false step and fractured his leg. Buick immediately jumped, but Hidden Law had to be put down.

Appleby said: “Unfortunately he fractured his leg. He got over the line all right and then when he crossed the road he faked a step on it and basically fell on it. It’s one of those very freak accidents. Unfortunately, we can only go on what we have seen and will not see in the future, it is very disappointing.

“Most importantly, I am so sorry for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and the Godolphin team. To have a horse like him potentially come through the ranks was exciting for everyone. It’s a sad day.

“I have to thank everyone here at the course, they were very kind and they were very quick in what they did. I feel sorry for Wayne, the groom and all the staff at Moulton Paddocks who did this. Lots of work with this horse Will woke up well which is the most important thing.

Ralph Beckett’s Forest Fairy (11-4) booked her place at Epsom for the Betfred Oaks on May 31 when she landed the ePassport Listed Weatherbys Cheshire Oaks under Rossa Ryan. The three-year-old daughter of Waldgeist had won on her Wolverhampton debut last month. And she just won a fight with Aidan O’Brien’s Port Fairy (7-1) to score by the neck to remain unbeaten after two starts. Stable-mate Seaward ran with an eventual second Port Fairy stood second. On the return home, Port Fairy took the lead, but Forest Fairy kept making inroads on the outside. The pair battled to a match, but Forest Fairy just got the verdict.

She looks set to head to Epsom now and is best priced at 14-1 with bet365 for the Putts’ Classic, behind current favourite, the O’Brien-trained Ylang Ylang, at 11-4 with William Hill and BetVictor after the fifth Sunday. placed in QIPCO 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Beckett, who also came third, said: “It was a really good result all round, the winner is still a work in progress and still learning a lot on the job today. I think he is likely to go to Epsom. on the last friday of the month I don’t think I’ll be too worried about the ground, I usually do a good job for the first day of that meeting, she’s a bit good and I’d imagine it’ll be similar. She was very immature as a two-year-old and we had to take our time with her, I think we were a bit surprised by how well she won on her debut at Wolverhampton, but we certainly haven’t underestimated her since. “

On Seaward, he added: “The third-placed filly also ran a good race and could come back to 10 furlongs for a race like Agnes Keyser at Goodwood (June 9).

Winning jockey Ryan, who bagged his first winner at Chester on his 40th trip, added: “I galloped well, they settled back and I raced three (furlongs) out. She still showed a lot of inexperience when I had to come out from behind and be a bit aggressive with her, but you can’t help but be impressed with the way she got out and looked around and still, when the job needed to be done , put his head down and galloped to the line, I’ll leave it to Ralph and the team to decide where he goes, but I’d imagine when he gets to milder conditions he’ll be plenty again better – and. I imagine with racing it will get better.

“He got away with the ground today, he’s probably on the slow side of good and I don’t think he’d want it any faster than that. She did everything I asked and more and answered more questions than I thought she would. We’ll see what the future holds, but it’s certainly an interesting rifle and should improve with time and age.”

Tom Dascombe’s Seraphim Angel (11-2) won the EBF Stakes from CAA Stellar Lily Agnes. Dascombe, who had a host of winners at this meeting when training at ex-Liverpool FC and Manor House Stables near ex-England striker Michael Owen, took the five-furlong sprint with a daughter of first-season sire Sergei Prokofiev. Seraphim Angel, under Pierre-Louis Jamin, was just off the pace set by eventual third Lady Lightning (11-2). But she can break away to beat 18-5 favorite Flicka’s Girl by a length and a half.

Dascombe, who now trains in Lambourn, said: “She went to Newmarket (when she was fourth last month), we’re not heavy on them at home and she didn’t know what to do when she came out of the bridle. He clearly learned a lot and won. We’ll see how he is, but he’s got loads of speed so I’d suggest he goes to York for Marygate. She won a twenty grand prize today Always Good at Chester so she’s already more than paid for herself and I love her. It was difficult moving back to Lambourn with so few horses and last year we put all our yearlings in a pre-training yard which choked a lot of horses too. I couldn’t prepare the horses for the winter. It’s the first time in two years that we’ve set up clear and I think we’ve had four runners and this is the second winner so I’m delighted. It’s great to have a winner at Chester in this race, I love this race and the people here are so welcoming and friendly to have a runner.

Joint trainer David Easterby praised jockey Joanna Mason after the Knicks (11-1) won the tote.co.uk Saddle-Up For More Than Racing Handicap. From stall six, the three-year-old took the lead at the start of the five-furlong sprint. And he stayed on well to win by a length from runner-up Vince L’Amour (13-2) with Due For Luck (7-2) finishing quickly just a head short in third.

Easterby said: “I have to give Joanna 10 out of 10 for coming out so quickly and turning stall six into stall one. It was amazing, I couldn’t believe it. She did all right, held on a bit and I think I made it through with it. The only owner not here is Lee Westwood, he’s working for a change today and it’s fantastic to be involved in a horse like that to ride the three-year-old Dash at Epsom.

Richard Fahey’s Garfield Shadow (20-1) made it three wins from three starts when he defied a wide draw to win the CAA Stellar Handicap opener at Chester. The three-year-old, who had won at Hamilton and Newcastle in his two starts last season, broke the stagnant 13th in the five-furlong sprint. Under a wonderful ride from David Nolan, he was placed near the back. But when goals came in the stadium-and-a-half final, he exploded the scoring with a neck from favorite Al Shabab Storm 7-2. Old Chums (7-1) was another three-quarters of a length back in third.

Winning jockey Nolan said: “I loved it. They went really fast and there was an opportunity for me to just slide into the fence. I snuck in a few places and my hand was forced, I had to ride for luck and that does it.” It doesn’t always happen that way. We have great splits at the right time and he’s not a bad horse you just need a bit of luck.”

O’Brien’s Gallantly (11-8 favourite) gave the Irish trainer an opening day win on Roodee after two seconds earlier in the ESL Export Maiden Stakes. Under Ryan Moore, the three-year-old son of Frankel scored by a length and a quarter from Castle In The Sand (10-3).