Tom Dascombe believes his string are in ‘flying form’ ahead of this week’s Boodles Chester May Festival.

The three-day showpiece begins on Wednesday and the Malpas handler, who trains out of the Manor House Stables yard co-owned by former England and Liverpool striker Michael Owen, has a host of good chances at a meeting he targets each year.

Ahead of the Roodee spectacular, an upbeat Dascombe said: “It has been a dreadful winter. It has been so cold and wet, but we have benefited from using our all-weather gallop, which has seen our horses come out flying.

“It has been a very good April, we had 16 winners from the yard, and I’m hoping that it will last another week.

“I’m looking forward to Chester as the meeting generates huge excitement in our yard and is also very good for the area.

“Chester racecourse is one of the most forward-thinking racecourses in the world, they came up with the Chester Bet, which has been a huge success, and next year they will be switching to Sky Sports Racing from Racing UK.

“I don’t know if that will be a success, but I had lunch the other day with Andrew Morris (clerk of the course) and he was very excited about the move to Sky Sports.”

Dascombe, who has had a May Festival winner every year since moving to Manor House, believes he could even have an Epsom Derby contender on his hands this year, after Proschema bolted by 11 lengths on his most recent start at Haydock at the end of April. The three-year-old is among 11 declarations for Wednesday’s Chester Vase Stakes, with Dascombe dreaming big with one of his stable stars.

“He is a lovely horse by Declaration Of War, he has won well at Doncaster and Haydock,” he said.

“He has a Derby entry, and we were going to run him in the Dante Derby trial but have decided to go for this race for the mile and a half trip, he loves the soft ground and we will see where we go next after the race, hopefully straight to Epsom.”

Proschema will take on an Aiden O’Brien trio in the Vase, with Hunting Horn, Flag Of Honour and the completely unexposed Family Tree all in the line-up.

The opening race of the Festival is the Lily Agnes Conditions Stakes for two-year-old’s and Dascombe’s unbeaten filly Light My Fire has been handed a good draw in stall three.

“She won well at Ripon on her debut last month, she has a great chance if she gets a good draw,” he explained. “She will not mind the ground and has been working really well at home and I am very pleased with her.”

Dascombe describes No I’m Easy as his ‘best chance’ of the entire week in the Eversheds Sutherland Handicap over six furlongs, although his bullish enthusiasm will no doubt have be tempered slightly by a less-than ideal draw in stall seven, with Richard Kingscote in the plate.

“No I’m Easy is my best chance of a winner at Chester next week,” he added. “He is lightly raced and has so much potential. He will win.”