Falcon Eight to prove class in Chester Cup
FALCON EIGHT can make his class tell and defy top weight in the tote+ Chester Cup Handicap, the highlight on the final day of the May Festival on the Roodee.
The six-year-old is a fascinating runner for Dermot Weld as he enjoys a first foray into handicap company, having been campaigned up to Group One level in previous seasons.
Falcon Eight did not hit the track until the July of his three-year-old season, but he looked a potential star in winning his first two starts before making a decent fist of it when third on his first outing at Group Three level.
It has been a bit of an up-and-down story since, though, with a Listed win at Sandown in July 2019 the highlight of some fairly high-profile challenges, but Weld has yet to get a really good run with him - and this will be just his 10th career outing.
Falcon Eight is having his first run in the best part of a year, which is obviously not ideal, but Weld clearly thinks the Galileo gelding is fit for the task - and given his fair fifth when enduring a troubled run in the Prix du Cadran a couple of years ago, the trip holds no fears. The booking of Frankie Dettori also takes the eye.
Armory was last seen posting a sterling effort in Australia back in October - and he can make a successful European return in the Melodi Media Huxley Stakes.
Beaten a length and a quarter by former stablemate Sir Dragonet in the Cox Plate, Armory had previously finished a fair third in the Irish Champion Stakes, beaten just two lengths by Magical as he kept on at the finish.
The Galileo colt is clearly a progressive individual, and trainer Aidan O’Brien has plenty of Group One options for him - so this appears a fine starting point, with a good chunk in hand of his rivals on the official ratings.