Quirky customer can upstage big guns in Ormonde

Intransigent
1.50 Chester
1pt each-way at 16-1 with Betway & BoyleSportsRosabelle
3.00 Chester
2pts each-wayWestern Hymn
3.35 Chester
1pt each-way at 10-1 with Betfair & LadbrokesI had to pinch myself when looking at the declarations for the Boodles Diamond Ormonde Stakes (3.35) at Chester on Friday as I thought they were still the five-day entries.

A field of 12 is as big as I can remember for a race that often attracts only four or five and it sets quite a poser, especially as the form horses are drawn in the car park.

Even in the Chester Cup over 2m2½f it is an advantage to be drawn low - Wednesday's first and second were drawn two and three - and while a high draw is not insurmountable in a 12-runner field over 1m5½f, it does make things difficult for the jockeys.