Chester May meeting: third and final day

The Chester meeting goes into its final day with the ground still very bad and as a result the likely favourites for the two top events today have been scratched- Bonfire in the Dee Stakes at 15.05 CET and Sea Moon in the Ormonde Stakes half an hour later. These races now have tiny and weak fields and Aidan and Joseph O´Brien have good prospects of winning both with Astrology and Memphis Tennessee respectively.

Obviously Brown Panther (Tom Dascombe/ Kieren Fallon), beaten favourite for last year´s German Derby and later runner-up in the St. Leger, is a serious danger in the Ormonde, but neither race appeals for betting purposes. Owner Dr. Marwan Koukash loves to have runners at this meeting and has already enjoyed a successful week. He runs 3 in the opening 7 1/2 furlongs handicap, including the 2011 1-2 Kyllachy Star (Richard Fahey/ Tony Hamilton) and Pintura (David Simcock/ Jamie Spencer). The latter is now 2 lbs better off for a head and wears the first colours, so he is our selection. Trainer Ruth Carr is another one who likes it her and she saddles 3 in the 7 furlongs handicap at 16.40, a race she won last year: Orpsie Boy (Dale Swift), Al Muheer (James Sullivan) - both penalised for a recent win- and No Hubris (Andrew Mullen); of these we prefer the first-named, but this is a very tricky race with several possibilities. The 5 furlongs handicap for 3yo´s at 16.05 looks more str aightforward: Ballesteros (Brian Meehan/ Ryan Moore) is in good form, acts on the ground and is well drawn. He looks likely to be involved in the finish, with another last-time-out winner Dam Beautiful (Kevin and Amy Ryan) the main danger.