Falcon Eight can show his class in Cup

FALCON Eight can make his class tell and defy top weight in the Chester Cup – the highlight of the final day of the May Festival on the Roodee, writes Captain Wessex.

The six-year-old is a fascinating runner for Dermot Weld as he enjoys a first foray into handicap company, having been running up to Group One level previously.

Falcon Eight did not hit the track until the July of his threeyear-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-anddown story since, though, with a Listed win at Sandown in July 2019 the highlight of some fairly high-profile challenges, but Weld, below, has yet to get a really good run with him - and this will be just his tenth career outing.

Falcon Eight is having his first run in the best part of a year, which is not ideal, but his trainer clearly thinks the Galileo gelding is fit for the task – and given his 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 can make a successful European return in the Melodi Media Huxley Stakes, while El Astronaute is an obvious choice in the Boodles Conditions Stakes.

One-time Classic entry Kenzai Warrior completely lost his way last season, but certainly appeals as an each-way proposition at least in the Earl Grosvenor Handicap. A Group Three winner at two, his 2000 Guineas run was over as soon as he fluffed the start, and it was downhill from there, with a couple of Group race defeats and a poor handicap bow.