2009 CHESTER MEETING FINAL DAY TIPS AND PREDICTIONS

The going is good- good to firm in places and I expect this will influence the outcome at tomorrow's Chester Meeting and could very well shift the advantage towards the punters. The 1:45 Handicap is a 7.5 furlong race which should have Mister Hardy, looking for a hat-trick, up against Flawed Genius and Opus Maximus. Victories at Newcastle and Doncaster definitely give weight to Mister Hardy's claim on this one and I think the handicapper has put things together nicely here. Mister Hardy is a very promising four year-old with plenty of experience under his belt. He's just coming into form now with a 2-3-1-1 record in his last four. You can back him at 13/2 and that's a great each-way bet if you ask me. We've got a shorter field in the 2:15 Group 3 Stakes running 1 mile 2 furlongs. Drumbeat goes in as a solid favourite and he should have Murtagh on board for this one. His closest competitor is likely Big Bound, but I would definitely keep my eyes on Gitano Hernando and Libel Law as well. South Easter could be a decent bet for the place, but I think against this level of competition he'll struggle. I'm backing Gitano Hernando (11/2) for this one, mostly as a value bet. I'm likely going to be playing the insurebet on this one, and I may take a Drumbeat/Big Bound reverse forecast as a cover bet. The 2:45 Group 3 Stakes is a 1 mile 5 furlong race which should certainly separate the men from the boys, so to speak. Frozen Fire comes in as the odds-on favourite, but I'm not entirely convinced by his recent form. For my money, Scintillo is in nearly identical form and can be backed at 16/1 instead of 5/6. The 3:15 Handicap is a short 5 furlong race which has City Dancer as the 4/1 favourite in a very competitive field. Green Beret is at 9/2 and Parisian Pyramid is at 5/1. I like City Dancer in this one and I'm expecting a good performance. The shorter distance opens things up a bit, but I'm backing City Dancer to get the job done.