Virtuous Star

Chester is one of the most unusual tracks in British racing — a tight, almost circular circuit that catches plenty of horses out. Winning there on debut, before a horse has even learned the ropes, suggests Virtuous Star has both the natural ability and the temperament to handle pressure straight away. That counts for something.

The horse is trained by Richard and Peter Fahey at Musley Bank in North Yorkshire, a yard that has already sent out 9 winners this season and clearly knows how to have a two-year-old ready to run on day one. Getting a young horse to peak condition for a first race is no small thing — it takes patience and timing — and the Faheys got it exactly right here. What comes next will tell us a great deal more, but for now, Virtuous Star's record reads as well as it possibly could.