Boodles Chester Vase Stakes Stats Guide

By Paul Jones

Not only did the Cheshire Oaks winner then win the Oaks at Epsom, but the Chester Vase went one step further with the 1-2 in Lambourn and Lazy Griff going on to occupy the same two positions in the Derby.

Henbit (1980) and Shergar (1981) won the Chester Vase in successive years before adding the Derby but we had to wait until Ruler Of The World (2013) to become the next horse to win both races, though Law Society (1985) and Treasure Beach (2011) went onto to finish second at Epsom after winning here. Nine years ago, Wings Of Eagles finished runner-up in the Chester Vase before causing a 40/1 shock in the Derby and the 2018 runner-up, Dee Ex Bee, almost followed suit when then finishing second at Epsom at a big price. Very sadly, impressive 2024 winner Hidden Law was all set to go to the Derby as favourite until taking a false step crossing the line and breaking a leg.

In fact, when Treasure Beach was successful 15 years ago, he beat Nathaniel into second who went on to win the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes less than three months later. Belmez also won the King George after he won the Chester Vase in 1990, while one year earlier Old Vic won the French Derby by 7 lengths and then the Irish Derby by 4 lengths after landing this prize, also for Sir Henry Cecil and Sheikh Mohammed. Toulon and Millenary also won the St Leger after winning this prize and Soldier Of Fortune won the Irish Derby, so be left in no doubt that the Chester Vase has a rich history as a future big-race guide.

Having won 11 runnings since 2007, many punters will be keen to see what Aidan O’Brien will unleash in the Vase this season and he has three of the 13 entries in Benvenuto Cellini, Proposition and Isaac Newton. All five of O’Brien's consecutive winners between 2013-2017 were sent off favourite (as have 10 of the last 19 winners) and were ridden by Ryan Moore, who also won the race on Doctor Fremantle, Treasure Beach, Changingoftheguard and Lambourn, so he has won the race on nine occasions, although Golden Sword did also score for the yard at 25/1. When Sir Dragonet won in 2019, he was leading home a Ballydoyle 1-2.

Nine of the last 15 winners won last time out but only four of the last 23 winners were having their seasonal debut (Mickdaam being the busiest winner in that time frame having had run four times earlier in his year), so a run earlier in the season has been advantageous, while only Soldier Of Fortune had won a Group race of any description beforehand having taken the Prix Noailles on his previous start.

The draw is heavily discussed in Chester handicaps but it has also been a point of interest for the Vase, with 11 of the last 23 winners drawn in one of the two lowest stalls. In fact, 11 of the last 15 winners came from stalls 1-4.