We move on to the 3rd night of the 2025 Racing League at Chepstow on Thursday evening. This is a home fixture for the Wales & West Team and they look to have a very good opportunity to get themselves on the score sheet in the opening 6-furlong handicap with Addison Grey. He was a winner by 17-lengths on his latest start in a Novice race at Salisbury, where he was the fastest horse over the final 4-furlongs as he closed with sectional splits of 11.92 and 12.86s. It’s hard to be overly sure what he beat on that occasion, but he was 17-lengths clear of the rest and he came out on top for both the top speed and time to reach 30 mph metrics. His earlier form, including when he made a winning debut at Southwell in November, has worked out well enough to think that he could be capable of making a winning handicap debut from a mark of 87. This isn’t a penalty kick. Tiger Tulip was slightly unlucky when 2nd on the opening night of the Racing League at Yarmouth and there’s also a case to be made for Northcliff, who did a lot of the work when leading the far side group at Ascot last time, eventually finishing 3rd behind Mum’s Tipple who had the benefit of racing on the stands side. The majority of the pace appears to be drawn high, with Tiger Tulip (10) and Profit Refused (9) likely to set the race up. Saffie Osborne should have the pace to track from stall 8 and having recorded an average stride length of over 24 feet on all 3 starts, provided Addison Grey can be kept in contention, he should be able to finish his race strongly. This is a very interesting place for Clive Cox to start his handicap career, but this does seem like it has been part of a plan and with £25k to the winner, this could be an interesting stepping stone in the career of Addison Grey.

The next few races are tough. There are definitely races to be won with Sword (6:00) and El Bodon (6:30) but it was hard to work out the pace setup for both of them on Thursday evening so I have decided to leave the remainder of the races on the straight course and focus on the end of the card instead.

In the 12-furlong handicap at 8:00 Beylerbi goes in search of a hat-trick after a pair of wins at York and Newmarket. He was a 4-length winner at Newmarket last weekend and is turned out quickly with 3 lbs in hand from his new mark. He ran the fastest split for each of the final 3-furlongs at Newmarket and isn’t easily overlooked here, but I suspect that there may be a very well handicapped horse in the shape of Winston Junior for Jessica Harrington and Beylerbi has 9 lbs to concede to the 3-year-old. He is still a maiden after 6 starts, but he has definitely improved since stepping up to 12-furlongs and his 2nd placed finish behind Light as Air at the Curragh would offer a lot of hope that his turn is coming. He stayed on strongly, recording the fastest final furlong in 13.25s and recording the best top speed figure in the field at 37.35 mph. With an observed stride length of 7.27m, he had one of the longest strides in the field and should be suited by the long straight and strong pace here. A mark of 86 is not a gift, but with his 3-year-old allowance this looks to be a very good spot and he should be one of Team Ireland’s better chances on the night.