Aidan O’Brien has won nine of the past 14 runnings of the Chester Vase and a sole runner from his Ballydoyle stable in a four-runner field would have been the obvious favourite for this Group Three Derby trial for much of the past 20 years.
Charlie Appleby’s Godolphin operation is steadily moving onto O’Brien’s turf, however, and his colt New London (3.10) will be an odds-on shot to extend his unbeaten record to three races on the Roodeye on Wednesday.
