Chester today

the three basic principles for betting at Chester are: 1) back only runners drawn low 2) follow runners owned by Dr. Marwan Koukash and 3) stick to horses with good course form wherever possible. This might be difficult today, as the very soft ground could well have more of an influence than the draw, while Dr. Koukash has so many runners that it would not be prudent to back them all - the Jordanian business guru owns more than 100 thoroughbreds and loves to see them run- especially at Chester, his favourite track.

In the main event, a valuable 10 furlongs handicap at 16.10 CVET. Dr. Koukash only has one runner, Calaf (Richard Fahey/ George Chaloner), but he looks well held on form, as he was 13 lengths behind Resurge (Will Kittow/ Fergus Sweeney) and Stand to Reason (Magnus Magnusson/ Ted Durcan), who fought out a tremendous finish over this CD on soft going a month ago. Top weight Memory Cloth (Brian Ellison/ Barry McHugh) is very consistent and must be considered, while War Poet (David O´Meara/ Daniel Tudhope) was a good winner last time on soft ground at Doncaster.

Sweenrey also partners Reyamour for Alan King in the opening 1 1/2 mile handicap at 15.00; this one also likes the soft, won last time out and this trainer, best known in N.H. circles, also does very well with his flat runners. Dr. Koukash has 3 runners in the 7 1/2 furlongs handicap at 15.35 and we like Pintura (David Simcock/ Franny Norton) and Kyllachy Star (Richard Fahey/ Tony Hamilton), while other possible winners for the owner are Jedward (Fahey/ Norton) at 17.15 and Sonko (Tim Pitt/ Norton).