Chester racing on Thursday has been delayed – after the jockeys who rode in the opening race reported some of the horses slipping around the final bend on the famous Roodee track.
Leading to race officials – including stewards, senior jockeys, trainers and the Chester clerk of the course Elousie Quayle to assess the situation.
This led to racing being delayed at Chester after the opening 1:30pm race, a contest the Oisin Murphy-ridden Roman Dragon won – landing the race for a second year-in-a-row.
Tom Marquand Gives Up All Rides At Chester
Due to ride in the Dee Stakes, Tom Marquand has given up all of his rides at Chester after deeming the ground to be unsafe after the opening race.
🚨 Tom Marquand, who was due to ride the now withdrawn Morshdi in the Dee Stakes, has given up his ride in the next race
David Egan will now ride the Hugo Palmer-trained Jazz Queen pic.twitter.com/TirZ3TuQgv
— Racing Post (@RacingPost) May 7, 2026
ITV Racing Confirm Chester Will Continue After Long Delay
After an hour and a half of delays, Chester and ITV Racing confirmed that racing will continue.
Karl Burke came out of the weighing room and said the next race will be going ahead.
Racing is going ahead at Chester ✅ pic.twitter.com/uLq7pY9TKi
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 7, 2026
Clerk Of The Course, Eloise Quayle speaks to ITV Racing’s Matt Chapman
Clerk of the course, Elousie Quayle, said to ITV Racing “I’m not going to be defensive, because there’s not really anything I’m really allowed to say at this stage. We’ve got a number of delegates who are going to come back in, we’ll have a conversation and see where we end up.”
We’ve heard from Elousie Quayle, clerk of the course, who said: “A horse – Stratusnine – changed legs and slipped on the bend turning for home. It seemed to be an isolated incident.
“We’re going out and sanding the bend and cutting it short. We’re doing the same on the pulled up bend [after the winning line] because there were some concerns there as well.
“Once the work has been carried out we’re going to go out and inspect the course again and hopefully continue racing. Stratusnine is fine.
“At this stage there is going to be a 20-minute delay while that work is carried out, and then there will be a further inspection.”
🗣"We can only do our best to try and resolve the situation"
Clerk Of The Course, Eloise Quayle speaks to Matt with remedial work underway pic.twitter.com/PUC1MmRAFK
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 7, 2026
Will Racing at Chester Be Cancelled?
At this stage it’s not known if the rest of the Chester May Festival Thursday card will be cancelled.
Track officials and ground staff are putting sand on the impacted areas of the track, which is a good sign that they will give racing a chance to continue.
On the day, the Dee Stakes (2:35pm), where the Aidan O’Brien-trained Constitution River is favourite, is still waiting in the balance.
While if the racing at Chester gets called off on Thursday, this will leave track officials working around the clock to make sure the Friday card survives, that features the Chester Cup.
ITV Racing’s Matt Chapman Speaks to Trainer George Boughey
🗣"It's not a huge surprise to be honest"
A delay to racing at Chester and officials inspect conditions out on track pic.twitter.com/VaxTM1ifW3
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 7, 2026
Maureen Haggas Thinks Chester Should Have Put More Water On
🗣"It sounds like they should've put more water on"
Maureen Haggas speaks to Oli about the ground at Chester pic.twitter.com/JoQf60rFAh
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 7, 2026
