BLAZING sunshine brought the racegoers out in force as Chester's 46,137 Family Funday attendance set a modern-day record for the course.

The Roodee was bursting at the seams on a day that has now become so popular that only The Derby and Royal Ascot are likely to record bigger crowds on the Flat this year.

And for those able, or even interested enough, to catch the action, there were clues to some important races ahead.

Trainer Ian Williams is targeting the totesport Ebor at York on August 18 for High Action after the four-year-old made all for Darryll Holland in the Curzon Park Rated Stakes.

"He will probably just squeeze in the Ebor now. He will pick up a 7lb penalty for winning here and at Newmarket and that will put him in with 8st 3lb," Williams said..

"He could be a well-handicapped horse there - but the ground needs to be fast and there is the worry whether he will have the early pace."

Rum Shot also looks ready for a step-up in class after landing the Listed Cheshire Life Queensferry Stakes under Fergus Sweeney.

He had half a length to spare over Talbot Avenue, but trainer Henry Candy, who had beaten the traffic by flying up in owner Raymond Mould's helicopter, said: "Fergus said that if he had delayed his challenge another 200 yards he would have won quite impressively.

"He was having only his sixth run and he had never been round a bend before. He will be more impressive on better ground on a straight course - he ought to go for a Group race now."

Mould, whose famous colours were carried to victory by Bindaree in the 2002 Grand National, said: "It is 30 years since I was last at Chester and it is good to come back and have a winner."

Warrington jockey Paul Hanagan landed a first and last race double for trainer Richard Fahey aboard Golden Legacy and Sualda.

The former, an 8-1 chance, put up an eyecatching effort in defying top weight and the worst draw to make it two wins on the trot in the Warwick International Nursery Stakes, while 5-1 Sualda prevailed by half a length in the Aldford Glass and Hope House Handicap.

Meanwhile, Let The Lion Roar is favourite to emulate his half-brother Millenary by winning the St Leger following the news that North Light is to miss the race.

The John Dunlop-trained colt is a best-priced 6-1 with the big three bookmakers to take the world's oldest Classic, four years after Millenary's success.

Third to North Light in both the Dante Stakes and The Derby, Let The Lion Roar has not run since finishing fourth to Grey Swallow in the Irish equivalent. He is due to run in the Great Voltigeur at York on August 17.

* Jockey Keith Dalgleish has retired at the age of 21 after an on-going battle with the scales.