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Thu 7 May 2026

Boodles May Festival Ladies Day

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Boodles May Festival Ladies Day The Most Glamorous Day in Chester’s Calendar

Day two of the Boodles May Festival is Ladies Day, a chance to cheer your favourites past the finishing line and look absolutely fabulous while doing it!

Think frocks, fascinators, and fedoras at every turn. The atmosphere? Electric. The style? Unforgettable.

Don’t miss your chance to unleash your true fashionista and be in with a chance of being crowned our most stylish attendee in our Best Dressed Competition – going home with prizes that would make anyone envious!

Schedule

Gates open

11:30 am

First race

1:30 pm

Last race

4:45 pm

The Going

Good

Going Stick 7.1 on Wed 7:30am

Rails: Rail will be out approximately 4 yards from 4f – 1.5f and 7 yards from the 6f – 4f.

1:30pm: Race distance is now +13y to 5f 28y

2:05pm: Race distance is now +19y to 5f 129y

2:35pm: Race distance is now +23y to 1m 2f 93y

3:05pm: Race distance is now +35y to 1m 5f 119y

3:40pm: Race distance is now +21y to 7f 148y

4:10pm: Race distance is now +23y to 1m 2f 93y

4:45pm: Race distance is now +31y to 1m 4f 94y

Stalls:1m2f – Outside Remainder – Inside

Weather

10.8mm rain over the last 4 days. Dry over the last 48 hours. Today is forecast to be dry and overcast with highs of 13’C and a 7mph Easterly breeze. Thursday has a 50% chance of showers from midday with highs of 15’C and an 11mph Southerly breeze.

Watering: Full course vertidrained. 4mm applied on the 28th April evening. 3mm applied overnight 29th April. 3mm applied overnight 30th April from the 1.5f – 6f.

Open Course Closure

The Open Course will be closed during the Boodles May Festival. Roodee guests who wish to bring a picnic and camping chairs are welcome to use the grassed area in front of Gate 9.

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Highlights

Best Dressed Competition

Need an excuse to dress up to the nines? Our Best Dressed Competition is renowned in Chester for being the centre stage for all fashionistas. We bring out the big guns for the prizes which await for our winner, plus 2nd and 3rd place.

Photo Opportunities

Need the perfect setting to show off your Ladies Day look? We’ve got you covered! Head over to Neon Flower Wall for a chance to pose and smile in-front of our exclusive Ladies Day backdrop.

The Ladbrokes Ormonde Stakes

This prestigious Group 3 race is open to horses aged four years or older and is ran over a distance of 1 mile, 5 furlongs and 84 yards. The Ladbrokes Ormonde Stakes can serve as a trial for the Coronation Cup. The last horse to win both races in the same year was St Nicholas Abbey in 2011.

New for 2026, under the NYRA initiative, the winner of the Group 3 Ladbrokes Ormonde Stakes, staged on the Thursday of the Boodles May Festival, will receive automatic entry into the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup (Thursday 4 June 2026), worth $250,000. The race has been hosted at Saratoga Race Course since 2024 while the new Belmont Park is being redeveloped.

Racecard

1:30 pm

THE CAA STELLAR HANDICAP STAKES

Group

Class 2, 4+yo

Distance

5f 15y

Prize

£45,000

2:05 pm

THE BRITISH STALLION STUDS EBF MAIDEN STAKES

Group

Class 2, 2yo

Distance

5f 110y

Prize

£40,000

2:35 pm

THE BOODLES RAINDANCE DEE STAKES (Listed)

Group

Class 1, 3yo

Distance

1m 2f 70y

Prize

£100,000

3:05 pm

THE LADBROKES ORMONDE STAKES (Group 3)

Group

Class 1, 4+yo

Distance

1m 5f 84y

Prize

£140,000

3:40 pm

THE XENON WORKPLACE HANDICAP STAKES

Group

Class 2, 3yo

Distance

7f 127y

Prize

£45,000

4:10 pm

THE HALLIWELL JONES HANDICAP STAKES

Group

Class 3, 4+yo

Distance

1m 2f 70y

Prize

£30,000

4:45 pm

THE CHESTER HANDICAP STAKES

Group

Class 3, 3yo

Distance

1m 4f 63y

Prize

£24,350

Raceday FAQs

Got a question about your raceday? Don’t have a MARE – just check out our handy FAQs.

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Can I access the open course on this fixture?

The Open Course will be closed during the Boodles May Festival.

Roodee guests who wish to bring a picnic and camping chairs are welcome to use the grassed area in front of Gate 9.

What Should I Wear?

We want you to feel fabulous in whatever you wear on a raceday but we do have certain dress codes for each enclosure. Lucky for you, we have a guide which tells you the yays or neighs!

Dress Code – Chester Racecourse

We might be switching things up with our dress code for the 2026 season – keep an eye out closer to the time for the latest info!

Where Can I Find The Going Report?

Need to clue up on the racing track info? Head over to the individual raceday page and find the latest updates there.

Can Children Attend?

You bet they can and even better – children aged 17 and under go FREE! For general admission areas, no ticket is required but for hospitality areas, a pre-booked child ticket is needed. To do this, simply email hospitality@chester-races.com.

*Please note – children are not allowed in The Garden or Winning Post Enclosures – this is where the grown ups let their hair down!

Which Forms of Payment Do You Accept?

We’re cashless (apart from the bookmakers) For all your drinks and tasty nibbles, we accept all major debit/credit cards and Apple/Android Pay. For placing bets, cash can be used with our on-course bookmakers.

Plan Your Day Your Guide

You’ve bought your tickets, woohoo! – now it’s time to plan your visit. So you can get a gallop on, we’ve created a handy little guide to help your day run smoothly.

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Don your best fascinators, frocks and fedoras and embrace your inner fashionista.

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