KEITH DALGLEISH has his fingers crossed he can get off to a flying start to the Flat turf season when he saddles Chookie Hamilton at Catterick today.

The North Yorkshire venue was Dalgleish‘s local track when he was riding, mainly for Mark Johnston at Middleham.

He looked to have the world at his feet as a jockey, but was always fighting a constant battle with his weight and was forced to admit defeat more than six years ago.

He has only been in charge of Belstane Racing Stables in Carluke, owned by businessman Gordon McDowall, since February 1, but he has already got one winner on the board thanks to Frequency, who struck at Lingfield earlier this month.

Chookie Hamilton was given a spin over hurdles at Ayr two weeks ago to blow away the cobwebs before he tries to carry top weight in the feature race on the card, the William Hill Handicap over a mile and a half handicap.

“He’s fit and well and we’re hoping for a good run,’’ said Dalgleish, who has a string of 20 horses.

“He had a run over hurdles a few weeks ago which hopefully should have put him spot-on, so it’s fingers crossed.

“It was nice to get a winner in before the season, just to get the ball rolling, and hopefully they will be a few more to come.

“Catterick wasn’t too bad for me when I was riding. I had a few winners round there. It was quite handy as I was only living ten minutes away, so I quite enjoyed going there.

“I’m just taking training a day at a time and seeing what happens.”