Chester May Meeting: third day

Today is the third and final day of Chester´s big meeting and unfortunately the heavy rain of the last couple of days has resulted in a large number of non-runners and some very small fields. There are now only 4 runners in the main event, the Ormonde Stakes over 1 mile 5 furlongs at 15,45 CET and it now looks a match between Brown Panther (Tom Dascombe/ Richard Kingscote) and Hillstar (Sir Michael Stoute/ Ryan Moore). Hillstar is expected to start favourite after some excellent performances last year, including a third to Novellist in the King George, but we just prefer Brown Panther as the son of Shirocco is the better stayer and we know that he will act on the ground, whereas the Stoute candidate has never run beyond 12 furlongs and then mainly on fast going. The filly Banoffee (Hughie Morrison/ Oisin Murphy) won the Cheshire Oaks last year, but has a lot to find against this pair.

The other big race here is the Dee Stakes for 3yo´s over 10 furlongs at 15.15, another Derby Trial, although now only a listed event, which has been dominated by Aidan O´Brien in recent years. He saddles two runners today, Century (Ryan Moore) and Kingfisher (Joseph O´Brien). Century flopped in the Racing Post Trophy and the soft ground was blamed, but we still prefer him to his stable companion. Mark Johnston also has two runners, who both have to concede 3 lbs to the Irish hopes and also look rather exposed. On jockey bookings Somewhat (Joe Fanning) could be the stable´s main hope, but we like Bow Creek (Franny Norton), who has won here and also goes on the soft.
The handicaps are always very tricky here, even with the fields decimated by non-.runners; we like Pintura (Kevin Ryan/ Graham Lee) at 14.45 and Dr. Red Eye (Scott Dixon/ Matthew Hopkins) at 16.50, both of them CD specialists.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Abseil - Here Comes When - Big Johnny D
2. Race: Somewhat - Kingfisher - Century
3. Race: Brown Panther - Hillstar - Banoffee
4. Race: Fine Cut - Fine `n Dandy - See The Sun
5. Race: Gabrial`s Bounty - King Of Eden - Dancing Cosmos
6. Race: Polar Eyes - Sighora - Destiny`s Kitten
7. Race: Running Deer - Ultimate - Innsbruck