Homeserve Dee Stakes
Listed, Chester 14:25 £76,000 added, 3yo only, 1m 2f 70y, Class 1
Thursday 9th May 2019

1 Circus Maximus 5/4F
2 Mohawk 7/1
3 Fox Chairman 2/1
6 ran NR: Mohtarrif Distances: 1¼l, 2l, 1¼l
Time: 2m 16.51s (slow by 9.31s)

Circus Maximus dug deep to keep stablemate Mohawk at bay

It's an Aidan O'Brien 1-2 as Investec Derby entrant CIRCUS MAXIMUS beats stablemate MOHAWK in the Dee Stakes @ChesterRaces pic.twitter.com/8MlImCQDJz

— Champions Series (@ChampionsSeries) May 9, 2019

24 hours earlier Sir Dragonet and Norway had dominated the other major Investec Derby trial of the meeting, the Vase, for the Ballydoyle team and they always looked to have this prize in safe keeping.

The winner tracked the leader Allmankind throughout the contest and was kicked to front on the final turn by Ryan Moore.

The two lengths advantage he took there was crucial as Mohawk closed him down inside the distance but could never land a telling blow.

Fox Chairman was strong in the market beforehand and finished well to take third for Andrew Balding and Silvestre De Sousa having been caught on the heels of rivals turning in.

O'Brien said: "You would be delighted with the two of them, they were two lovely runs. The two of them were in the Guineas up to the last stage. You would always prefer better ground, but it was good they went through with it.

"He (Circus Maximus) is a relaxed horse and just needed to learn a little bit, so it was lovely to come here. He got a lovely, handy break as he can get lazy in his races and he dropped back, then Ryan moved him up and he came back on the bridle. Ryan said in an ideal world he would have preferred to have a lead for a little while longer, but you couldn't be happier.

"The great thing about here is that they have to have quick feet and they have to learn to jump, travel and keep going. The ground was slow, so he had to work a bit harder."

Homeserve Dee Stakes (Listed)
£76,000 added, 3yo only, 1m 2f 70y, Class 1
6 ran
Going: Good to Soft