Marwan Koukash had threatened to pick up the trophy wearing only a tie if Magic Circle took the Chester Cup here on Friday. In the end, he settled for an FA Cup-style lap of the winner’s enclosure, having been warned that he would risk a lifetime ban from his favourite racecourse if he made good on his promise, but it was still clear that his fourth win in the May meeting’s most historic event meant as much to him as the first.
Magic Circle was making his first start in Koukash’s colours, having been bought specifically to target the race by Ian Williams, his trainer.
“This is the one race that I always want to win,” the owner said, “and now I’ve done it four times, which I don’t think has ever been done before.”
Magic Circle had an excellent draw in stall six but was not able to make the most of it and was caught three wide at one stage of a race where saving ground around the inner is usually vital. Fran Berry worked his way into a much better position on the second circuit, however, and when he sent Magic Circle for home, his turn of foot took him clear in just a few strides.
“I thought he was a bit cold [after 209 days off] and he had lost the advantage of a good draw, but he ended up in a good position and he finished like a storm,” Williams said. “I thought his chance had gone when he was three wide. I was gobsmacked that he could win from there.”
Magic Circle could now be dropped in trip and aimed towards the Ebor Handicap at York in August, while Fun Mac, the runner-up, is likely to head for the longest race in the Flat racing calendar, the Queen Alexandra Stakes, the final race of the Royal meeting at Ascot next month.
Eminent, fourth home in last year’s Derby, made his first start at four in the Huxley Stakes and set off as the 8-13 favourite, but he raced freely at the head of the field and as Forest Ranger travelled well just behind him and faded tamely as Richard Fahey’s gelding struck for home on the way to a one-and-a-quarter length win.
The winner’s enclosure felt 50% smaller than it had on Thursday as Forest Ranger was led back to unsaddle afterwards, as he is an impressive physical specimen who would not look out of place in a Cheltenham Gold Cup. He is also improving steadily after a gelding operation over the winter and will now be trained for the Group One Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in early July.
“He’s a big unit,” Richard Fahey, Forest Ranger’s trainer, said with a hint of understatement. “He’s become a man and he’s progressing.”
Eminent was reported to have a “fibrillating heart” by Chester’s veterinary officer after a post-race examination.