2025 Earl Grosvenor Handicap Betting Tips
The stage is set for another quality day of racing at Chester, with Never So Brave potentially going off as favourite. Andrew Balding trains a four-year-old who was disappointing at Ascot last October after finishing dead last. However, the horse did win at the Roodee at this meeting twelve months ago when scoring in a handicap over seven and a half furlongs.
Qirat is an interesting contender who is carrying two pounds less than the former, with Ralph Beckett saddling a horse who finished second out of seven horses at Nottingham last time out. There was also a smart showing at Ascot at the beginning of October and that came after a handicap success at Goodwood.
Divine Libra is a five-year-old who could represent each-way value, with Charles Hills hoping that his charge can improve on a sixth-placed finish when running at Haydock at the end of April. At the end of last August, we saw the horse produce a smart performance to finish second in a field of thirteen at Chester which bodes well for this encounter.
Gorak was second in his seasonal debut and the Charlie Fellowes-trained runner performed well at Haydock Park when finishing just half a length off the pace. That was over seven furlongs, with the same runner very close to Divine Libra when the two raced at Chester towards the end of August.
2023 Earl Grosvenor Handicap Tips
Biggles ran fairly well at Haydock Park in his previous outing and the third placed finish at the end of April could be a good prep race for this encounter at Chester. Towards the end of last year, we saw Ralph Beckett’s charge claim a victory at Newbury in October and the horse was then sent off as favourite at Doncaster on heavy ground over seven furlongs before finishing second.
Vafortino is an interesting runner who has plenty of experience for a five-year-old, with the horse being narrowly edged out in his last race. There was just half a length to separate winner Rebel Territory and this horse in a handicap race at Newmarket, with Kevin Philippart De Foy previously seeing his runner win a claiming handicap at Goodwood in September.
Boardman hasn’t been close to victory in his past three outings, with the horse having failed to win any of his past nine encounters. The Tim Easterby-trained runner finished midfield last time out in a race that also included several of the runners lining up here, including Gweedore and Biggles, although perhaps he’s favourably weighted as a result.
Gweedore is a similar price and looks like a better each-way wager, with the horse finishing second last time out in that race at Haydock Park and that came after winning a race at Musselburgh in early April when obliging as the 7/2 joint-favourite. The trip looks to be well suited to a horse who is our best idea of an each-way wager.