They were not disappointed as the attendance of 39,024 was up eight per cent on last year's attendance of 36,142.

Chester's chief executive Richard Thomas was delighted with the crowd, speaking after racing, he said: "It was good to see the stands buzzing, a lot of people took advantage of our incentive of two for one tickets in the County Stand and Tatts which has worked well, Tatts was sold out before racing which was very encouraging.

"We had people arriving in the centre of the course from 8am onwards, and overall it has been a good days racing at Chester.

Nescliffe trainer Mark Brisbourne rarely leaves the Chester racecourse without a winner these days.

He kept up his remarkable strike rate at his local course when the aptly named Cheshire Prince won the Macmillan Cancer Support Handicap Stakes in a hack canter by two and three quarter lengths from Spirit Of Adjista.

The winner provided 7lb claimer Dean Heslop with his first ever victory at the Roodee.

Brisbourne said: "He has won today off his highest mark of 80, the handicapper will have put him after today and he will be difficult to win with at some courses, so I will stick to Chester, why go anywhere else when there are races for him here."

The Desert Prince gelding is owned jointly by Derek Rutter from Bickerton and Harry Clewlow from Nantwich."

The opening Jewson Supporting British Heart Foundation E.B.F. Maiden Stakes went to Proclaim under J.P.Guillambert, who made every yard to win going away from Flintlock, Game Roseanna from the local yard of Mark Brisbourne ran on well to finish third.

The winning trainer Mark Johnson was represented at the course by his assistant Jock Bennett, who said he knew that the winner was a better horse than his debut run at Catterick suggested.

Epsom trainer Jim Boyle is definitely a trainer to follow at the moment, last season he had a career best total of 40 winners.

He looks well on target to smash that record after Red Baron Dancer (my selection) made every yard from the gate to beat Aahaygirl readily by a length and a quarter under a very confident ride from Pat Cosgrave.

Boyle was recording his 33rd winner of the season, he said afterwards that his charge had benefited from the plum number one draw and added that the winner was suited by the track and the going.

The feature race on the card was the Childrens Adventure Farm Listed Queensferry Stakes. The race produced a thrilling finish which went to the Kevin Ryan trained Green Manalishi under Paul Hannigan, who stayed on strongly to win in the shadow of the post by half a length from Damika, with Reverence a further neck back in third.

The Green Desert gelding was winning this race for the second year running and was recording his second listed race triumph at Chester this season.

Ryan was elated and said: "He is grand horse and the extra furlong and the draw helped a lot today, Paul (Hannagan) said that he was able to sit off the pace and then quicken up in the home straight.

"I was a bit worried when there was a heavy downpour before racing, but older horses can cope better with a bit of cut than the younger ones.
To be honest it is a job done as I had targeted the two listed races at Chester, the Ebor meeting at York next is a possibility."

One of the gamest horses in training is the David Evans trained The Kiddykid who held on tenaciously under a strong drive from Tom McLaughlin in the Halliwell Jones BMW mile to win a thriller by a head from South Cape.

Obezyana trained by Alan Bailey was a further three parts of a length back in third. The winner had to overcome the graveyard 11 draw to win, a fact not lost on his trainer David Evans, who said, "Every time we come to Chester with this horse he always seems to be drawn in the car park, and he always seems to win one race a year, and I would rather it was at Chester a favourite course of mine."

The last race was won by the Mark Tomkins trained Bowder Stone (my selection) under Jimmy Quinn, who ran out the easiest winner on the card beating Riqaab by three lengths hard held.