DR MARWAN KOUKASH had already achieved his major racing ambition by winning the StanJames.com Chester Cup five years ago, but he celebrated his second victory in the race with equal relish.

The locally-based owner has a long-running love-affair with the May meeting, instructing his numerous trainers to prime his horses for it, and Richard Fahey had Address Unknown (12-1) spot-on for his first start for the yard.

Koukash’s retained jockey Jamie Spencer was intending to partner the withdrawn Montaser, and picked the ex- Ian Williams six-year-old over three others in the valuable staying handicap.

Top-class hurdler and 7-2 joint-favourite Countrywide Flame had been right at the front throughout and looked to have made the decisive move turning for home, but his stride began to shorten and Address Unknown pulled past.

He eventually held on by half a length from the closing Ingleby Spirit to complete a famous one-two for Fahey’s Yorkshire stable.

Koukash said: ‘‘I’m absolutely delighted. When we lost Montaser, I thought that was my luck gone, but Jamie gave this horse a fantastic ride.

‘‘Richard has done extremely well with the horse over the past couple of months.

“I’ve been in racing five or six years and the only thing I wanted to do was win the (Chester) Cup again. To be honest, this means more to me than if I were to win the Ascot Gold Cup.

‘‘This and the Melbourne Cup are the ones I want to win – I have a few contenders and perhaps this horse will be one.’’ Fahey said: ‘‘We haven’t had him that long and I never checked that he normally wears blinkers and a tonguetie.

‘‘To finish first and second in a race like this is fantastic for everybody. It looked a right race on paper.

‘‘Marwan said when he (Address Unknown) came to me he’d win the Chester Cup.

‘‘All I did was exercise him and bring him here – and forget the blinkers and the tongue-tie!’’ Hughie Morrison suggested Banoffee (9-1) would be supplemented for next month’s Investec Oaks after making a striking impression in the Weatherby’s Bank Cheshire Oaks.