Raceday LIVE – Phoenix Of Dreams
Related horse(s):
Phoenix Of DreamsRead our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Phoenix Of Dreams' lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
Phoenix Of Dreams continued his consistent form when he was switched to the all-weather and dropped in trip to six furlongs last time out, coming home in second place to complete his hat-trick of runner-up finishes. It marked yet another race in which our three-year-old appeared to just run into a pretty good horse, and in this case it was Smart Hero, who was subsequently raised five pounds up to a mark of 87 after that performance. Maris Angel, the horse who came home two places behind Phoenix Of Dreams in fourth, also went on to win at Wolverhampton in her next appearance (albeit in a lower grade contest), further boosting the form of the race.
After the Southwell race, trainer Sean Quinn said "It might actually turn out to be quite a decent race that throws up plenty of winners, because speaking to a few of those who finished behind us, it seems they think their horses are pretty good, so maybe the winner and our horse have just performed slightly better than their marks.".
Prior to that run, Phoenix Of Dreams was the bridesmaid to Miss Information (Andrew Balding) and Coppull Hall Lane (Ed Bethell) who both went off at short prices at Beverley and Chepstow respectively, before going on to win again for their connections. Miss Information ran off a weight two pounds lower than Phoenix Of Dreams when they faced off (with a seven pound claimer onboard) and is now rated 15 pounds higher, and Coppull Hall Lane is now rated six pounds higher, having carried five pounds less than our gelding in their contest.
Phoenix Of Dreams in the Winners Enclosure following his second place finish at Chepstow
Today Phoenix Of Dreams steps back up to seven furlongs and heads back into handicap company, and it's certainly a race that's filled with competition with four rivals having won at Chester before and several who could be on a nice handicap mark. However, our three-year-old comes into the contest totally unexposed on the ground he's likely to face today, and it's often been the thought that he'll relish softer conditions as he's a real galloping type, so hopefully we can see that today.
Top jockey Jason Hart is set to continue his partnership with Phoenix Of Dreams this afternoon, having ridden him in four of his five races to date, and the pair are drawn nicely in stall 7.
WATCH: Sean Quinn sends a video update on Phoenix Of Dreams ahead of today's race
Phoenix Of Dreams' Owners for the Day
As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Phoenix Of Dreams' run at Chester this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Chester Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Phoenix Of Dreams and the John & Sean Quinn team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Phoenix Of Dreams.
Two of Phoenix Of Dreams' recent Owners for the Day with Jason Hart in the Parade Ring
Prize Money
Today's Class 4 contest is worth £20,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £10,192 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £4,778 | 3rd: £2,392 | 4th: £1,194 | 5th: 598 6th | £296
Trainer and Jockey Statistics
John & Sean Quinn have been relatively busy recently, sending out 18 runners in the last fortnight, including one winner at Carlisle two days ago. They've returned to their North Yorkshire base with a further three horses finishing in the places, including Tropez Power in a valuable handicap at Haydock a week ago.
At Chester, the father and son team have had 12 runners without a winner so far this season, but have had three runners finish on the podium. Prior to Sean joining the license, Chester was a relatively successful racecourse for John Quinn, with the trainer picking up 26 wins from 188 runners at a rate of 14% at the track in his career.
Jason Hart has also been busy as of late, picking up 46 rides in the last two weeks, which have including four winners and nine places, with one of those winners coming for John and Sean Quinn and another one coming at Chester at the end of August.
Chester is a course that Jason Hart has typically found success at, riding 29 winners from 185 runners (16% strike-rate) and two of those victories have arrived this year.
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, shares his thoughts on Phoenix Of Dreams and who he's up against this afternoon.
Phoenix Of Dreams
There’s no shortage of in-form horses in the line up for this 7f handicap but Phoenix Of Dreams is one of them and the testing conditions are unlikely to pose too much of a problem to him having made such an encouraging debut on testing ground at Thirsk in April. Although he’s finished second on his last few starts there’s no reason to knock his attitude and his form-lines are looking solid.
His most recent second to a higher rated horse in maiden at Southwell has been advertised by the subsequent win of the 4th Maris Angel who made a winning handicap debut on her next start, while the Chepstow run behind Miss Information is also working out well enough with the winner following up by a wide margin next time before holding her form off higher marks (now rated 15lbs higher).
Consistency has been a real strong point for Phoenix Of Dreams and there’s every reason to think he’ll run his race again and that should see him being competitive.
Rest of the Field
The one to beat could be Mercurial after he returned from a short break to run an excellent race in second at Roscommon, pulling clear with an improving winner. Successful at the Curragh in April, he loves testing ground and has seemingly been kept fresh for an Autumn campaign while the reapplication of the cheek pieces he wore for that early season win is a sign he could return to more prominent tactics at a track that often suits that approach.
A wide draw could be an issue for him, though on this type of ground it’s often much less of an issue and could be an advantage (in recent seasons the strike rate of the highest third of the draw is higher in double figure fields over this trip on soft or Heavy ground than the lowest third of the draw).
Also of interest in an open race is Quest For Fun who enjoys these conditions and is back down to 0-85 company for the first time since winning by five lengths at Catterick off this mark last October.
17:05 CHESTER – LATEST BETTING HERE
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 17:05 to watch Phoenix Of Dreams' next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.