Magic day for Mr Chester Marwan Koukash as he wins a fourth Cup

He may not have been allowed to carry out his threat to strip off in victory but otherwise the day could not have gone much better for the man who calls himself 'Mr Chester'.

That much was obvious from the tiggerishly exuberant way that Marwan Koukash celebrated scoring an historic fourth victory in the Chester Cup with Magic Circle. John Magnier he ain't.

Never before had the race been run on the closing Friday of the meeting and surely never before had the winning owner enjoyed success as much as this.

The millionaire Palestinian-born businessman bowed to his knees in the winner's enclosure then leapt for joy, delayed the ceremony as he bounced on to the ITV4 podium before taking the trophy on a lap of honour round the crowded ring – had he been in shorts, you'd have thought it was the FA Cup he had in his hands.

Chester Cup-winning owner Marwan Koukash shows off the trophyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Of course, he would have been wearing even less than shorts had he had his way, having vowed to receive the cup dressed solely in his tie. But chief executive Richard Thomas suggested he may never be allowed back.

Which would have been quite a blow to an owner, who said: "This is the race I want to win more than any other.

"I don't think it's ever been done before for an owner to win the cup four times and I doubt it will ever be done again. I'm absolutely delighted."

Magic Circle had been bought with this day firmly in mind, picked up for 70,000gns last autumn and sent to Ian Williams with an eye on improving last year's fifth place in this £154,000 contest.

That looked odds against as he sat some way off the pace early on but he made good headway under Fran Berry and led early in the straight before bursting clear to score by an emphatic six lengths.

Magic Circle surges clear under Fran BerryCredit: Edward Whitaker

"We obviously knew the horse was better than what he showed last year," Koukash said. "To be fair he was drawn 19 then and he still finished fifth so we knew with a better draw he would have every chance. But I never expected him to win by that margin.

"I presume his handicap mark will now go through the roof and what we'll probably have to do is to look for a Group race in order to qualify him for the Melbourne Cup, so that is the plan."

Watch Magic Circle's win

Williams trained Koukash's first Chester Cup winner Bulwarkand knows what Chester means to a man who also took this prize with Address Unknownand Suegioo, and ended this meeting with four winners over the three days.

"He's an enthusiast and he loves Chester, it's all about Chester for him," the trainer said. "Marwan is a lot easier these days, he's not as proactive as he used to be – but he's likely to become more difficult for having such a great Chester!

"I'd been saying to everybody this week this horse is far too short, it's only the fact that it's me training it and Marwan owning it and it's the Chester Cup. Fran gave the horse a great ride, we were a little disappointed not to be handy enough away and I was gobsmacked how comfortably he won."

Koukash and Williams had served notice of what was to come when Restorer, who was bought for 33,000gns last autumn, made all under Richard Kingscote in the preceding 1m2½f handicap.

"It was good business," Koukash reflected on the day. "Horseracing is easy business when it works out."

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