Chester May Festival 2024: Hidden Law breaks down after winning the Chester Vase

There was a hugely sad ending to the Boodles Chester Vase Stakes as winner Hidden Law (9-4) suffered a fatal injury after the line on day one of the Boodles Chester May Festival.

The three-year-old son of Dubawi landed the Group Three feature on the Roodee, scoring by three lengths under Liverpool FC fan William Buick, from front-running Agenda (3-1), from the Aidan O'Brien stable. He won in the style of a real contender for next month's Derby at Epsom for Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby. But almost immediately after crossing the line, he made a false step and fractured his leg. Buick jumped off immediately but Hidden Law had to be put down.

Appleby said: "He fractured his leg, unfortunately. He passed the line all okay and then when he's crossed the road, he's took a false step on it and he's come down on it basically. It's one of those very freak accidents. Unfortunately, we can only go on what we've seen and won't see again for the future, it's very disappointing.

"Most importantly, I feel so sorry for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and Team Godolphin. To have a horse like him potentially coming through the ranks was exciting for everybody. It's a sad day.

"I have to thank everybody here at the course, they've been very accommodating and were very speedy in what they've done. I feel sorry for Wayne, the groom, and all the staff back at Moulton Paddocks, who have done so much work with this horse. Will got up fine, which is the most important thing. He's a bit shook from it because it's not a nice thing to happen."

Ralph Beckett's Forest Fairy (11-4) booked her place at Epsom for the Betfred Oaks on May 31 when landing the Listed Weatherbys ePassport Cheshire Oaks, under Rossa Ryan. The three-year-old daughter of Waldgeist had won on her debut at Wolverhampton last month. And she just got the better of a battle with Aidan O'Brien's Port Fairy (7-1) to score by a neck to remain unbeaten after two starts. Stable-mate Seaward made the running with eventual second Port Fairy sat in second. On the turn for home, Port Fairy took over but Forest Fairy was always making inroads on the outside. The pair battled all the way up the run-in but it was Forest Fairy who just got the verdict.

She looks set to head to Epsom now and is a best-priced 14-1 with bet365 for the Fillies' Classic behind the current favourite, the O'Brien-trained Ylang Ylang is 11-4 with William Hill and BetVictor following Sunday's fifth-placed finish in the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Beckett, who also Seaward finish third, said: "It was a very good result on all levels, the winner is still a work in progress and was still learning plenty on the job today. I think it's probable she'll end up at Epsom on the last Friday of the month. I don't think I will be too worried about the ground, they usually do a good job for the first day of that meeting, she's a good-moving filly and I would imagine it will be similar ground to today. She was just very immature at two and we had to take our time with her. I think we were all a bit surprised by how well she won on her debut at Wolverhampton, but we certainly haven't underestimated her since!"

On Seaward, he added: "The filly that finished third ran a good race too and she could come back to 10 furlongs for a race like the Agnes Keyser at Goodwood (June 9)."

Winning jockey Ryan, who was landing a first winner at Chester on his 40th ride, added: "We went an okay gallop, they steadied up down the back and we got racing three (furlongs) out. She's still showed a lot of signs of inexperience when I had to come out from behind and be a bit aggressive on her, but you can't be but impressed by the way she got out and had a look around and still when the job needed to be done, she stuck her head down and galloped right out to the line. I'll leave it up to Ralph and the team to decide where she goes next, but I would imagine that when she gets on softer going conditions, she'll be a lot better again – and I'd imagine with racing, she'll get better.

"She got away with the ground today, it's probably on the slow side of good and I don't think she'd want it any quicker than that. She did everything I asked of her and more and answered more questions than I thought she would. We shall see what the future holds, but she's an exciting filly for sure and she's one that should get better with time and with age."

Tom Dascombe's Seraphim Angel (11-2) won CAA Stellar Lily Agnes EBF Conditions Stakes. Dascombe, who had plenty of winners at this meeting when training at former Liverpool FC and England striker Michael Owen's nearby Manor House Stables, took the five-furlong sprint with the daughter of first-season sire Sergei Prokofiev. Seraphim Angel, under Pierre-Louis Jamin, was just off the pace set by eventual third Lady Lightning (11-2). But she can down thte outside to beat 18-5 favourite Flicka's Girl by a length-and-a-half.

Dascombe, who now trains in Lambourn, said: "She went to Newmarket (when fourth last month), we're not hard on them at home, and she didn't know what to do when she came off the bridle. She'd clearly learned a lot today and won. We'll see how she is but she has loads of speed so I'd suggest she'll go to York for the Marygate. She's won a twenty-grand bonus today, prize-money is always good at Chester so she's more than paid for herself already and I love her. It was difficult moving back to Lambourn with so few horses and last year we put all our yearlings in a pre-training yard that got strangles and a lot of the horses we couldn't give them a winter prep. This is the first time in two years that we've had a clear run at getting them ready and I think we've had four runners and that's our second winner so I'm delighted. It's great to have a winner at Chester in this race, I love this race, and the people here are so welcoming and friendly. It's a great track to have a runner at."

Joint-trainer David Easterby praised jockey Joanna Mason after Knicks (11-1) won the tote.co.uk Saddle-Up For More Than Racing Handicap. From stall six the three-year-old came across to lead early on in the five-furlong sprint. And he stayed on well to win by a neck from runner-up Vince L'Amour (13-2) with the fast-finishing Due For Luck (7-2) just a short-head back in third.

Easterby said: "I have to give Joanna 10 out of 10 for getting out so quick and turning stall six into stall one. That was amazing, I couldn't believe it. She did everything right, held on for a little bit and I think we got the trip right with him. The only one of the owners who isn't here is Lee Westwood, he's working today for a change, and it's fantastic to be involved in a horse like this. I think we'll probably end up going for the three-year-old-old Dash at Epsom. That's the plan."

Richard Fahey's Garfield Shadow (20-1) made it three wins from three starts when defying a wide draw to win the opening CAA Stellar Handicap at Chester. The three-year-old, who had won at Hamilton and Newcastle on his two starts last season, overcame stall 13 in the five-furlong sprint. Under a fine ride by David Nolan, he was sat near the back. But when the gaps came in the the final furlong-and-a-half, he burst through on the rail score by a neck from the well-backed 7-2 favourite Al Shabab Storm. Old Chums (7-1) was a further three-quarters-of-a-length back in third.

Winning jockey Nolan said: "I enjoyed that. They went really quick and the opportunity was there for me to just slide into the fence. I snuck up a few spots and my hand was forced, I had to ride for luck and it doesn't always happen like that. We got lovely splits at the right time and this isn't a bad horse. It's not often you get the splits like we did. I've been moaning all morning about the draw but it can be happen and you need a bit of luck."

O'Brien's Gallantly (11-8 favourite) gave the Irish trainer a victory on day one on the Roodee after two earlier seconds in the ESL Export Maiden Stakes. Under Ryan Moore, the three-year-old son of Frankel scored by a length-and-a-quarter from Castle In The Sand (10-3).