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Horse racing tips for Sunday's big card at Chelmsford

Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023

Tom Thurgood takes a closer look at the big highlight at Chelmsford on Sunday and shares a pointer or two for elsewhere on the card. Enjoy further action from Market Rasen, Ayr and Sligo live on Racing TV.

Chelmsford stages one its big cards of the year on Sunday and, with £195,000 up for grabs across seven races, the track – customarily noted for its decent prize money throughout the year – has been rewarded with decent fields throughout the afternoon.

The £100,000 Champagne Collet Queen Charlotte Fillies’ Stakes is one of the most valuable Listed prizes around and some high-class fillies are taking part this time, with six of the eight runners rated 100 or higher in a good renewal. Three placed at Listed level last time and two are arriving here from the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Main contenders

Queen Aminatu heads the market overnight and, while some may quibble at her price of 11-4, she seems the rightful favourite from here at least.

She’s kept the best company of these this term and, despite some big numbers in her recent form figures, has mostly shaped better than her results this season. She was too keen in a slowly-run race in the Athasi Stakes at the Curragh in May yet made nice ground before fading in the final furlong on soft ground while she rattled home from the back in the Chartwell at Lingfield two starts back, posting similar sectionals to her stablemate Sacred who was only just denied in Group One company at Royal Ascot subsequently. Queen Aminatu ran in the Duke Of Cambridge at the royal meeting and she didn’t really have a chance from her position at the back in a race run at a fairly steady clip, while the wide draw wasn’t ideal either.

She has another wide draw here and she can start slowly but this is a drop in grade (median rating of rivals here is 100 while it was 102 at the Curragh, 105 at Lingfield and 107 at Ascot) and this Muhaarar filly has five wins from eight starts on the all-weather. She is well-treated by the weights here too for an in-form yard.

Heredia has shaped pretty nicely in two starts this season, posting the fastest final three furlongs on both assignments, but she has proved slowly away from the stalls on both occasions and has given herself up an uphill task.

The concern is that she might do the same again – even if a lot of the market protagonists here are generally ridden patiently – while she is unproven on the all-weather but connections will harbour confidence from the fact that her half-sister goes well on synthetics. That filly is by Kingman, a stallion noted for the all-weather performance of his progeny.

Heredia meets White Moonlight again here after their Listed clash at Musselburgh and, if she races a bit more amenably, she has the ability to reverse the form.

White Moonlight should have a favourable pace set-up here and she will go forward and likely be the one out in front for the others to pass on the turn for home. She did have an ideal set-up when winning at Musselburgh last time and she now has to carry the 3lb Listed penalty for that, while she didn’t hit the line especially strongly there and it was a similar story in the Chartwell on her penultimate start when fading near the finish as Queen Aminatu was finishing with a rattle.

Potapova is the highest-rated runner in the field and this step down to seven furlongs – just her fourth try at the distance and her first for approaching two years – looks a good move, although it will need to work and the fact connections are going down this avenue indicates their fily hasn’t been finishing strongly in recent starts.

She was not right on her return at Goodwood and ran better in Group company at Epsom next time, albeit she was pretty keen off a modest early gallop and she was well placed for the dash for home but was overtaken by the majority of the field late on. She posted her best effort of the campaign last time when fifth in the Duke Of Cambridge, but she made up cheap ground off the modest early gallop in a savy early move by Richard Kingscote and the closing sectionals were not too similar to those posted by Queen Aminatu a bit further behind.

An outsider to note

Tom Thurgood

Aramis Grey

15:55 Chelmsford City

J: Callum Shepherd

T: Rae Guest

Finished: 7thSP: 14/1

Aramis Grey has mixed it with some good horses on the all-weather this year – including Annaf, Vadream and Queen Animatu – and ran quite well on turf in Group Three company at Haydock last time, travelling well approaching the closing stages but unable to find a run up the rail before finishing well to just miss out on second.

This filly has loads of experience at Chelmsford and she represents a yard in particularly good form at present (a double at Nottingham on Saturday and four winners from 8 runners in the past 11 days) while Callum Shepherd arrives here after a treble at Nottingham on Saturday and he rides Chelmsford well (14% strike-rate, +£113.24, 1.04 A/E).

Aramis Grey is usually ridden patiently but, given the lack of established pace here, this might not prove the stiffest test at the trip and that could be ideal given she steps up from six furlongs and has done most of her racing to date at that sprinting distance.

She may not be able to quite mix it with highly-rated fillies but early quotes of 18-1 certainly underestimate her and she’s worth an each-way interest at those odds.

One for elsewhere on the card

Tom Thurgood

The Thames Boatman

17:40 Chelmsford City

J: George Rooke

T: R Hughes

Finished: 2ndSP: 3/1

Richard Hughes is enjoying a good spell after a notably quiet few months in April and May, with his Northumberland Plate winner Calling The Wind one of four winners from 15 runners this month. The yard has also sent out two runners-up.

The Thames Boatman has run well in three of his four starts for Hughes this year and has looked an improved model as a three-year-old but he disappointed despite good market support last time and stepping from a four-runner race into this eight-runner field should see this enthusiastic racer to better effect.

The stable has a particularly good record at Chelmsford and more so in course handicaps from a sample of over 200 runners (20.7%, +£47.42, 43.8% place, 1.19 A/E ) and George Rooke has been on board plenty of those winners (10 from 39, +£26.79, 56.5% place. 1.36 A/E).

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