Tonight in Toowoomba a bumper race card is scheduled to see out the year with the night’s feature event being the Bernborough Handicap 2014 – betting tips for which are found below.

A top field of 12 gallopers make up the line-up for this year’s $175,000 Listed City Of Toowoomba / Toowoomba Regional Council Bernborough Handicap (1200m) that runs as Race 6 at 8:35pm (local time).

It’s a tight Bernborough Handicap betting battle between the three single figure hopes at Ladbrokes.com.au, with the Robert Heathcote-trained Hopfgarten ($3) the narrow favourite.

Drawn in barrier six with top Brisbane hoop Damian Browne to ride, the Mossman four-year-old carries the top weight of 59kg but is still well fancied to win his second black-type on the trot.

Last start on December 13 at Doomben the gelding beat home a good field by a tidy margin of three and a quarter lengths in the Listed Brisbane Handicap (1600m), but carried only 56kg in doing so.

His main dangers tonight according to the Bernborough Handicap odds are then early market mover Tarloshan ($3.60 into $3.50) who has the outside draw to overcome, and the rails-drawn Group 1 winner Tinto out from $3.80 to $4.

Prepared in New Zealand but with the bulk of her race experience being down under, Istidaad mare Tarloshan won her latest start at the same Brisbane Handicap meeting as Hopfgarten when she beat home Breakfast In Bed (2^nd) and Tinto (3^rd) in the mares-only listed Just Now Quality (1350m)

Rex Lipp’s local Red Dazzler mare Tinto meanwhile is out to turn the tables here when stepped up in distance, the four-year-old looking to return to the form that saw her win the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) at Eagle Farm back in May.

So will the top three fancies run the Bernborough Handicap trifecta?

Or is there value to be found further down the market from a longer priced hope such as the well-backed local Ben Currie-trained last start Ipswich winner Great Game ($18 into $15) or even Brisbane Handicap runner-up Perfect Punch ($26)?

1^st

#5 Tarloshan ($3.50)

She’s got barrier 12 of 12 to overcome but there is distance for her to do that in this mile clash. Gets in on the 54kg minimum giving her a nice five kilo advantage over the favourite, and money is coming for her. She sees the track for the first time but this lightly-raced five-year-old is ultra-consistent with five wins and two seconds from nine starts to date so is always in the mix. She won last time out at Doomben in good company and also has winning form over the mile in Sydney so distance is also a non-issue here.

2^nd

#2 Tinto ($4)

A Group 1 Queensland Oaks winner over the mile and a half during the winter, this four-year-old has class. She hasn’t won since but has been far from disgraced in her two runs this campaign with a first-up second in the Listed Tattersall’s Classic (1200m) and then a third in the Just Now last start. She’s up over a mile for the first time since the winter and the further the better for this one. She had a big 59.5kg weight in the Just Now and so will relish a slight drop back to 58kg, but that’s still four kilos more than her last start conqueror. She deserves it and will be improving off her last run so should be close.

3^rd

#6 Perfect Punch ($26)

The bookies look to be backing the form of the Brisbane Handicap installing the winner Hopfgarten at the top of these markets even with his hefty weight, but odds on the second over the post are juicy. Gold Coast galloper Perfect Punch has winning form up to 1800m, and while the bulk of this six-year-old’s racing has been in non-black types around the coast just over the border, he held his own in the Brisbane handicap and can do so again here with 54kg again from a good barrier four draw with Jim Byrne in the saddle.

Whether you are backing or sacking our Bernborough Handicap selections make sure you place your bets for the final black type of 2014 online at Ladbrokes.com.au to see out the year with the hottest odds and biggest payouts!

*All odds quoted are Fixed Win from Ladbrokes.com.au and subject to change