Chepstow best bet: Dual course-distance winner Azahara Palace set to justify short odds

15:20 Chepstow: In Memory of Adrian, Joby’s Boy Handicap (1 mile) 

Of those rivals in with a chance of making life difficult for the market leader, Hey Lyla brings the best form, having notched up an early-season victory under the same jockey, Joe Fanning, in May, and then bouncing back from three under-par performances to finish second at Newmarket last time out five weeks ago.

There’s also some quiet each-way support for the David Evans-trained Monty Be Quick, who remains winless in three maidens, but who has shown enough to suggest he might relish this step up in trip on handicap debut.

Both of those hold place claims, but if they are to win then they will need Azahara Palace to fall a long way short of the form she has brought to the track over the last couple of months. 

The promise shown in a third-placed finish at Catterick in early summer was quickly confirmed by back-to-back victories over this course and distance in June and July, easing a length or more clear on both occasions.

Hughie Morrison’s filly was last seen 25 days ago at Salisbury, where she came within a neck of completing a hat-trick after giving another progressive type, Yellow Lion, a run for his money, with the rest of the nine-runner field strung out in their wake.

Azahara Palace has incurred a two-pound hike in the weights but that is negated by the three-pound claim of Billy Loughnane, who was on board for the most recent win here and who has previously enjoyed his limited appearances at the Welsh course, guiding six of just 21 rides here into the winner’s enclosure.