MARTIN DWYER admits the totesport.com Chester Cup is a ‘nightmare’ to ride in, but he is hoping for a dream run aboard Desert Sea tomorrow.

The feature contest of the Roodee’s prestigious three-day May meeting is one of the most keenly-contested handicaps of the season.

But Merseyside jockey Dwyer has never won the race and knows it is one of the most difficult of the entire Flat calendar. He was third on Jamie Osborne’s Enjoy The Moment two years ago and fourth aboard the Andrew Balding-trained Distant Prospect in 2004, but victory has been elusive.

Dwyer partnered Desert Sea to victory at Kempton at the end of March. And he is hopeful the David Arbuthnot-trained six-year-old is capable of securing another success in the 2m2f heritage handicap.

Dwyer said: “Hopefully he will have a good chance. He is a decent stayer and he won last time.

“It is a bit of lottery that race. It can be a bit of a nightmare to ride because it is such a hard track to ride a stayer on. There is not a lot happens. Once you get your position from the start it is hard to make ground until near the end of the race. It is important to get a good position, because you can’t really make a forward move until near the end.

“He has a decent draw in six, so that gives us a chance. There are always a lot of hard-luck stories in that race. But with my horse he jumps out well and travels really good. He can actually be a little keen in his races, but hopefully that will suit me because I can get a nice position.”

Dwyer landed another big Flat handicap for Arbuthnot at the end of last season when Tropical Strait won the November Handicap at Doncaster.

Now freelance it is wins in these big races that will keep him in favour with a host of trainers.

The 33-year-old said: “It was decent field at Kempton. It was run a bit slowly, but he managed to quicken well.

“He (Arbuthnot) has got a couple of nice horses and his string are in good order. It is a difficult race, but it is a nice race to win.”

He added: “I am pleased with my start of the season. With being freelance this year, it is a bit into the unknown. I have put myself out there and worked away and it is coming off now. I am getting plenty of rides now for a lot of stables.”

Dwyer – twice a Classic winner – was delighted to have had the chance of partnering another horse at the highest level, when Super Sleuth finished an excellent third to Ghanaati in Sunday’s stanjames.com 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

He is now dreaming of more Classic success in either the Oaks – a race he won aboard Casual Look in 2003 – or the French equivalent, the Prix du Diane with Brian Meehan’s three-year-old filly.

He added: “She ran a very good race, but I was expecting her to run that type of race. They made he a 33-1 shot, but I don’t know why. Lahaleeb was fourth favourite and only beat her a neck in the trial at Newbury. I thought she would have a good each-way chance. The ground was probably a bit too firm for her, but she still ran a great race.

“It is just a question of English or French Oaks now. I don’t really know which would be best. She will certainly get a mile and quarter, but whether she will get a mile and a half is up in the air at the minute. We will have to fit the pieces together and come up with the decision with Brian, the owners and myself. She was second in a Listed race at Newmarket last year and everything in that race has come out and won and done well. She is a good filly.”

Another filly with Classic aspirations, Hazy Dancer, goes in the Weatherbys Bank Cheshire Oaks at Chester tomorrow. The Marcus Tregoning-trained three-year-old has run just once, winning a maiden at Lingfield last October.

Dwyer said: “Hazy Dancer is in the Cheshire Oaks. She is a bit of an unknown quantity. She won her maiden first time out. She has improved a lot, but this is a big leap. She probably has the Stoute horse to beat. We will see what she has got. I won the race on her mother (Shadow Dancing) a few years ago. On her form it is a bit of leap. We are hopeful rather than confident.

“You find out what horses are and what they have got this time of year.”

Dwyer is hoping for a good few days on the Roodee with the Willie Muir-trained Enroller – a good winner at Newbury last month – a possible for Friday’s betchronicle.com Ormonde Stakes.

Enroller is entered in the Ormonde and the Yorkshire Cup. Willie is looking at Chester because the race might cut up and it looks an easier race. He will take all the beating if he goes there. He did really well last year and was unlucky not to win a couple more. He ran great in the St Leger to finish fifth. His win at Newbury last month was no fluke.”

TODAY’S NAP: Majehar (3pm Southwell).