Its Friday the 13th, and an end to Cheltenham Festival 2009 – but will that mean an unlucky end to what has been one of Systemlays’ best ever Festivals? See our Festival Gold Cup day tips below to find out!

Thursday was a truly up and down day – having managed to get our lay Voy Por Ustedes beaten at odds on, we were immediately disappointed by the flat performance of Kasbah Bliss in the World Hurdle, only to be uplifted by the spectacular 33-1 win of Something Wells which put a truly positive position for the day, despite Double Dizzy never getting close in the final event – which saw us lose our 100% Naps record.

Friday is the final day of Cheltenham Festival 2009 and in true time honoured fashion, the Festival concludes with the main event- Cheltenham Gold Cup 2009, which sees last year’s big hitters Denman and Kauto Star take to the track fully fit for a rematch.

As is customary, we’ve run our ratings on the whole day’s play well ahead of time – just select the Cheltenham Festival Friday event from the list below to jump straight to our ratings, guide and tips for the event of your choosing. We’ll try to find the best odds the night before too, to help you out. Be sure to check out any Cheltenham Festival 2009 free bets (just click the link) that you haven’t already taken, because some of these may well be parcelled up until next year once Friday is through!

• 1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle 2m 1f
• 2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle 2m 1f
• 2.40 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle 3m
• 3.20 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f
• 4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f
• 4.40 Matin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 2m 4 1/2f
• 5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Steeple Chase 2m 1/2f

1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle 2m 1f

The Triumph Hurdle is a great way to start the day, and this ultra-competitive event over the smaller obstacles always attracts a good field.

Triumph Hurdle Runners, Ratings & Best Odds

Triumph Hurdle Tips & Ratings Review

For a race as competitive as this, it is nice to see one horse with a slight edge and everything in its favour as WALKON appears to. Alan King is in fabulous form this season, too. Walkon is therefore a good each-way bet at odds of around 9/2 across the board. Those looking to make up the places, or to forecast with it should consider Reve De Sivola and Simerian as decent prospects to make up the places.

2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle 2m 1f

Our record in the Festival handicaps this week has been staggeringly good – on the first and third days naming horses at over 20-1 and 30-1 as each-way tips which went on to win. We’ll look to continue that trend in this large field of handicap hurdlers.

Country Handicap Hurdle Runners, Ratings & Best Odds

County Hadicap Hurdle Tips & Ratings Review

The top two according to our Systemlays ratings are MOVES GOODENOUGH and DAVE’S DREAM, who have a little margin between themselves and the rest of this closely grouped field. This suggests to us that the two horses have the best of this handicap in terms of the weights carried on the day set against the best recent performances.

As a result, we advise small each-way bets on each of the two, and a small reverse forecast is worthy of consideration too. With four places to aim for, only one horse filling one of those places should see a profitable return, with a win or even a one-two seeing much more.

2.40 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle 3m

Another novices hurdle, this time over 3 miles. These events are often tricky due to the improvement horses can make with each and every run – however, in the top-class events at Cheltenham, we at least have an awful lot more by way of meaningful form to go at. Below is how this field stacks up.

Novices Hurdle Runners, Ratings & Best Odds

Novices Hurdle Tips & Ratigs Review

We put Bally Sands, Midnight Sail and Thetwincamdrift at the head of this novice hurdle based upon solid performances which saw them find one two good previously. These three have little between them based upon that evidence, so we’re once again tipping a three-way each-way dutch here – and also recommend a low stakes combination forecast and/or trifecta with the three too to add a frisson of interest.

While there will be better betting opportunities on Gold Cup Friday, this is a race which may point out some future big winners, so we’ll be watching it with interest – and maybe 50 pence – riding on it.

3.20 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f

Its the big one – the Gold Cup – which sees what everyone expects to be the big rematch of Denman, the powerhouse who won last year’s Gold Cup, and Kauto Star, the speed merchant who jumps like a stag who won two years ago, and who lifts Kempton King Georges for fun, it would seem. There are, however, several other class horses in this race. Lets compare them.

Gold Cup Runners, Ratings & Best Odds

Gold Cup Tips and Ratings Review

Last year, we really fancied Kauto Star to take the Gold Cup – and we tipped him on here wholeheartedly – as the horse went into the race in the form of his life. Denman took that race with a masterful performance during which Kauto Star looked jaded and flat, yet still had the class to finish second despite never really shining.

Since last years race, Denman has been beaten over fences for the first time ever (at Kempton in Feb), and Kauto Star and Neptune Collonges have both produced uncharacteristicly poor performances at the back end of 2008 (Kauto Star may have ‘bounced’ in November).

When all is said and done, though, its recent bests we base our ratings on, and the best performance came from Neptune Collonges (at Leopardstown in April ’08), closely followed by that of Denman in this event last year. Any repeat of those runs should see a very close finish between the two.

Kauto Star cannot be ruled out, though: any return to his best performances would put him right up there, in fact he would win this were he to. The fact that we haven’t seen one of those runs for over 18 months suggests to us that it won’t happen this time either (that is, after all, our system, give or take).

So, while Kauto Star has been consistently VERY good over the years, he’s NEVER clocked as well as Denman or Neptune Collonges have. We suggest dutching the two, with a slight preference for Neptune Collonges. Kauto Star could well make up the placings as he’s never far away. The Nicholls 1-2-3 is therefore a good bet again and, if you’re looking for the right order, we think it will be Neptune, Denman, Kauto, but that would be some call to get spot on right.

Due to the prices available and the very close calls involved (we’ve not even mentioned Snoopy Loopy and Barbers Shop who’ve clocked well of late) we don’t suggest any large bets here, but this is shaping up to be one of the best spectacles of recent years with so many with a chance, and a number of question marks hovering over more than a few.

4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f

We chose the Foxhunters for the tiebreaker in our Cheltenham Festival 2009 Tipping Competition – that’s because its a wide-open event! Here we show you our take on this race.

Foxhunters Runners, Ratings & Best Odds

Foxhunters Tips & Ratings Review

While we don’t view the Foxhunter Steeple Chase 2009 as a great betting opportunity, those of you who want a bet to add some interest could do worse than a pound or two each-way on the top four in our ratings: Robbers Glen, Back Nine, Proud Andees, and Border Fusion.

4.40 Matin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 2m 4 1/2f

This conditional jockeys handicap is another event where we look for well weighted horses with pounds taken off by jockey claims or a mistake by the handicapper. See our ratings and tips below.

Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle Runners, Ratings & Best Odds

Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle Tips & Ratings Review

Sometimes, in this sort of handicap, we can find a real ‘edge’ and get a horse which is a long way in front based upon the weight and recent performances. Other times, like this race, we get the head of the ratings all grouped together. That being said, the top five horses in our ratings have some gap on the rest of the field. If you back one, back all five each way for small stakes, otherwise steer clear of this race altogether as a betting medium. Thos five horses being Quartz De Thaix, Coq Hardi, Pauillac, Presenting Copper and Little Shilling.

Unfortunatly, that’s the best we can offer, though if one or two of these does make it into the top two places, you should more than make your money back with a 10p combination Exacta with Totesport (total cost 20x10p = £2!). Bet365 (and others) are also offering 1/4 odds each-way 1,2,3,4,5.

5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Steeple Chase 2m 1/2f

Cheltenham Festival 2009 closes in style with the Grand Annual Steeple Chase and, after yet another year of highs and lows, we all feel drained and exhilerated in equal measure with 28 races worth of extra memories to take away. Finding the winner in this last event is always a boon, so here is our very best attempt.

Grand Annual Runners, Ratings and Best Odds

Grand Annual Tips and Ratings Review

We put Central House, Perce Rock and Andreas at the head of this field based on our ratings. We tipped Perce Rock as a likely winner today (Thursday) and he took a crashing fall after being brought down travelling well, so we don’t think he’ll be running in this event unless he’s recovered in double-quick time.

Resultantly, the advised bet is another split 50-50 each-way bet on Central House and Andreas, with a small amount on the reverse forecast too.

If these two do get this 1-2 up, it certainly will bring down the curtain on our best-ever Cheltenham Festival in over a decade fittingly.

Whatever you decide to follow us in with, here’s to a cracking final day of Cheltenham Festival 2009. We hope you’ve enjoyed our tips, ratings and previews, and, if you entered the tipping competition, watch out for the prize announcement over the weekend (we’ll be adding up, drawing names etc on Friday evening with a view to announcing on Sunday morning.)

Please do remember that we provide backing and laying tips for UK and Irish horse racing every day of the week, except some Sundays, for free – subscribe to the RSS or Email feeds at the top right-hand side of this or any other page to never miss a trick.

We’re also planning a whole lot of additional content for Grand National 2009 for those of you who only follow the larger horse racing events – so be sure to check bay with Systemlays UK in April for that.

See you next time!