For racing fans, the surest sign that spring has sprung is the arrival of the Boodles May Festival at Chester. The opening day of the 2025 edition continued the recent theme of Aidan O’Brien dominance – Galileo may be gone, but the Ballydoyle maestro continues to mop up pattern class contests at a formidable rate.
Having grabbed the Cheshire Oaks and Chester Vase on the opening day, O’Brien gives his rivals a chance in the highest-class contest of the meeting on the final day. Seven go to post for the 2025 Huxley Stakes – none of whom hail from the O’Brien yard.
Named after a local village, the Huxley Stakes is one of the newer additions to the Chester menu, having only arrived on the scene in 1999. Open to runners aged four and older, this £130,000 contest takes place over the 1m2½f trip and was a favourite target of the now-retired Sir Michael Stoute.
Seven runners make for a small but competitive renewal, but who will come out on top? Here, we look back at the ten editions of the race between 2014 and 2024, highlight the standout stats and trends, and pick out our best bet for the 2025 edition.
Fate of the Favourite
The market leader boasts a solid recent record in the Huxley Stakes, with five of the ten editions in our sample falling to the favourite or joint favourite. Given that 50% strike rate, a profit for jolly backers of £1.41 to £1 level stakes is a little underwhelming. All ten winners returned a single-figure SP in a race where shocks were few and far between.
Top Jockeys: Moore Masterclass
With eight wins in total, Ryan Moore is the most successful rider in the history of this race. No surprise then, that the Ballydoyle number one tops the recent trainers table. The absence of an O’Brien runner sees Moore take the ride aboard the Karl Burke-trained Liberty Lane in 2025. Of the jockeys in our table, Moore is the only man with a mount this year.
Rating of Winner
The average rating of the winner dropped slightly over our sample, from 114.5 to 113. Armory (2021) was the clear standout, having arrived with a rating of 120. 2024 champ Passenger brought up the rear with a rating of 111. However, that was only 1lb below the 2015, 2019, and 2022 winners. Focusing on those runners with a rating of at least 111 looks like the way to go.
Up to this Class?
The ratings of our winners would suggest they ought to be up to winning in Group 3 company at least, but how many had done so in the past? It turns out that most had, with nine of the ten winners in our sample having previously scored at Group 3 or above, including two Group 1 heroes.
Going the Distance
It’s fair to say that Chester isn’t the most demanding of tracks in the land. However, a proven ability to stay the distance is always encouraging when assessing the claims of the contenders. Over the ten editions in our sample, only Forest Ranger (2018) had yet to win over 1m2f or further.
4-5 Year Olds Dominate
The Huxley Stakes is open to runners aged four and older. Historically, the youngest age group holds the edge, whilst no horse older than six has ever come home in front. That pattern is reflected in our ten-year snapshot, with nine of the ten editions falling to a runner aged either four or five.
Arriving in Form
The Sir Michael Stoute duo of Cannock Chase (2016) and Solid Stone (2022) finished out of the frame on their previous outing, but the eight other winners finished either first or second. Siding with those who performed well on their most recent outing looks like the percentage call.
Other Factors
- Nine of ten winners were drawn in stalls 3, 4, or 5.
- Seven of the ten winners had previously lined up in Group 1 company.
- Seven of the ten winners had run in the current season.
- Five of the ten winners were sired by Galileo or one of his sons.
Betting Recommendations: Balding Star to Outfox Rivals
Horse | Jockey | Rating | Group Win | Distance | Age | 1-2 Last Time | SCORE |
Bolster | x | ✔ | x | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 4 |
Cairo | x | x | ✔ | x | ✔ | x | 2 |
Certain Lad | x | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | x | x | 3 |
Deepone | x | x | ✔ | x | ✔ | x | 2 |
Liberty Lane | ✔ | ✔ | x | x | ✔ | x | 2 |
Space Legend | x | ✔ | x | ✔ | ✔ | x | 3 |
The Foxes | x | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 5 |
We have a clear winner on our stats, with The Foxes the only horse to score five out of seven on our key trends.
We are inclined to keep things simple and side with the Andrew Balding runner, unless second-placed Bolster performs particularly well on our additional factors. Let’s take a look.
Bolster earns an additional point for his draw in stall 3, but misses the other stats.
The Foxes, meanwhile, earns points for a previous run in Group 1 company, a run in the current season, and his sire Churchill, who is a son of the great Galileo.
Bolster looks a reasonable each-way proposition at 6/1 with Betfred, but overall, the market suggests that The Foxes is the most likely winner, and so do we.
- Recommended Win Bet: The Foxes @ 11/8 with Betfred
Our Top UK Betting Sites for the 2025 Huxley Stakes:
 (1).webp "10Bet")
Paul Harrison
Falling in love with racing at a young age, Paul’s passion for sports and betting took him to Salford University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics with Gambling Studies. Having spent ten years in the employment of a leading bookmaker, Paul opted to go it alone and pursue his dream job as a freelance writer.
