"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Matthew 7:15-20
The Racemakers. A borrowed initiative that could and should take off, because racing, more than any other sport, especially on its high days and holidays, plays host to a diverse audience, a high percentage of which are day-outers rather than devouters. God knows, I'd have benefited from a Shakespearemaker - or a Shakermaker as they'd be billed - on certain school days out involving Othello and The Tempest.
However, as a part-time cynic and full-time pessimist, intensified by a Guineas weekend where two misdirected ante-post darts in Moohaajim and Big Break were supplemented by a cover shot on Toronado, I see the bad, or the potential bad, in everything.
My fear for the Racemaker is this: the infiltrator. As far as I can tell, the vetting procedure is based on trust and honour, which would be fine in the twelfth century, when men were men, but we're in the twenty-first century, where the ratio of fake Twitter accounts to real ones is four to one. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in Qipco jackets, but inwardly they are disgruntled, mischievous or, worse still, militant.
Imagine if, this week, a Racemaker, preaching to a wide-eyed - in some cases bleary-eyed - flock, had a sudden outburst of honesty and told it how it really is, including how Chester is in actual fact a dog track where the best horse rarely wins, and that judgements are best made not on the form intricacies of each contender but on the number of their slot in the big green mobile prison they start from.
Only one eventuality truly makes a day's racing, namely a winner, and here are five horses that will either make or break the week for me:
MASAMAH, 16.25, Wednesday
We've got this far without mentioning him, but Dr Marwan is to Chester what Davros is to the universe. Conquering it is everything to him, and he has a huge grey army to call on, out in force this week. It's a very simple case for Masamah. He's the fastest horse in the race, he's twice a course winner, he's ideally drawn in 2, and he's going to have been trained to the minute by new manager Marco Botti to give the Doctor exactly what he's ordered.
THE LARK, 14.15, Wednesday
Bred along identical lines to Sariska, whose half-sister is this one's dam, and likewise by Pivotal, The Lark has the pedigree to justify her Oaks entry, and she can take a big step towards Epsom by winning this winnable Cheshire version. The tired old cliche of 'anything she does this year is a bonus' was more applicable to a two-year-old The Lark than most, given her build and breeding, made for middle distances, but she achieved an encouraging amount in mile maidens last autumn, that form as good as anything in this field. Get up with The Lark.
NOBLE STORM, 15.15, Wednesday
Four years ago, Noble Storm finished second in the three-year-old handicap at this meeting, on his way to the Group stage, where he was 7/2 favourite for the 2011 King George Stakes at Goodwood, won by the aforementioned Masamah. He never fired in 2012, but forgiving a sprinter a 'missing' season can often pay dividends, and the upshot is he returns off an appealing mark of 99, hopefully refreshed and reinvigorated. Speed is the racemaker as far as Chester is concerned, and Noble Storm has it in abundance.
ASSIZES, 13.45, Thursday
Stall 1 and a Mark Johnston terrier is a match made in heaven, hence the belief in Assizes for a handicap which, on the face of it, seems a notch above his pay grade. However, he looked up to this level when in the zone last summer, placed on similarly sharp tracks, and a reappearance on polytrack over an unsuitable trip should have put him spot on for this. There may be more progressive handicappers in the race, but stall 1 is massive, even over ten furlongs.
SECRET GESTURE, 14.20, Saturday
This isn't a Chester-exclusive preview, and the big one for the week, and perhaps the season, is Secret Gesture, put up for the Oaks - as far back as last year - by Martin Dixon, a far better judge than me. We - the Timeform 'we' - and hopefully some of you, are on at 33s, though she's still a tasty 20s, and if she wins the Lingfield Oaks Trial on Saturday as we expect she will, then the Racemakers at Epsom on May 31st, Oaks day, will be overrun by a hyper Timeform crew.
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