Chester May Festival tips: Jamie Lynch picks out his five to follow on the Roodee this week all live on Sky Sports Racing

Sky Sports Racing's senior form analyst Jamie Lynch nominates five handicappers of note at Chester's Boodles May Festival this week.

DANGER ALERT

2.05 Wednesday

Even after 11 races, there's a sense that we haven't yet seen the very best version of DANGER ALERT, partly because he has a few flaws and foibles, but his secrets have to some degree been revealed by his two wins.

For these, there have been clear common denominators: A well-run sprint around a turn whereby he can get in a pocket and settle behind the leaders, then explode up a short straight. All of those factors are in play for him here.

The race is overloaded with pace, amplified by the Chester effect, and stall five is the perfect platform to get into his favoured slot in the second wave, while it also helps that one of his two wins came under William Buick, who's back on board now.

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ROYAL DRESS

3.45 Wednesday

Her reappearance win was smooth, more so considering the non-routine absence (off 10 months) and the fact she was keen enough, but it's predominantly her final two-year-old start that makes me think ROYAL DRESS has been let in lightly off 80 for her handicap debut.

She was sent off the 15/8 favourite for that novice at Doncaster last July but bumped into one to say the least, beaten three quarters of a length by Midnight Mile who subsequently won the Group Three Oh So Sharp Stakes and finished fourth at the Breeders' Cup.

This will be her first race around a bend but it will be a benefit if anything, as she's on the fizzy side, and a draw in three is ideal for Ryan Moore to get a good position on her.

JEAN BAPTISTE

3.45 Thursday

A draw in 13 (of 14 runners) normally means game over at Chester, at any distance, but the 10-furlong handicap at Chester on Thursday is unusual for having so little pace signed on, and JEAN BAPTISTE is so fast from the gates that he definitely has a chance of crossing the field.

The draw was the only factor out of control of connections and it has been damaging, no doubt, but everything else looks to have been planned and primed for Jean Baptiste to shine in this spot at a track he won last summer, off a mark just 1lb lower than now, and with cheekpieces back on here for the first time this year.

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DEMILION

4.55 Thursday

In the 12-furlong handicap that closes Thursday's card, as many as seven of these three-year-olds are trying the trip for the first time, and many of them may stay it, but DEMILION is a banker to improve for it.

From day one he has shaped like an out-and-out stayer, none more so than when fourth in a better handicap than this at Newmarket last time, where he looked likely to finish nearer last into the dip only to rally up the hill behind three horses who are overqualified for this 0-85.

His dam, Cascading, didn't manage to win until she got over 12 furlongs and ended up in Group races, more reason for thinking Demilion could be a different proposition now stepped up further in distance, in a race the Johnston team has won twice in the last four renewals.

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BOARDMAN

1.30 Friday

Death, taxes and BOARDMAN blooming in May. He has won seven times in his life and six of those have come in the month of May - and the other was April 23.

Combine that stat with the fact he has won twice at Chester and it's pretty clear what his target is; this very race, for which he was sent off favourite in 2022 but struck unlucky with the draw.

He has tiptoed his way towards it this year via three runs, catching the eye on a couple of occasions, and there's little doubt he's sitting on a peak performance, just needing a fair draw now to show it.