20:25 Fontwell

Thursday 17 May 2018

All17:0017:3018:0518:4019:1519:5020:25

bettrendsshop.co.uk Open Hunters' Chase

Off time: 20:26 | Winning time: 4m 30.20s

Numbercruncher¹³

Age: 12| Weight: 12-4| J: Mr David O'Brien⁽⁷⁾| T: David O'Brien| OR: 105

7/2

Useful hunter chaser, winner at Stratford last year when ground came in his favour and ran well for a long way at Cheltenham latest considering trip as a bit too far for him. Conditions ideal here and looks a big player.

Form: 31P2U-7

Wells De Lune^h,t³⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 12-4| J: Mr Peter Bryan⁽⁵⁾| T: M Bowen| OR: 131| CD

8/11

Would just about be the best of these under Rules and will find this a lot easier than the races he's tackled at Cheltenham and Aintree. Course winner but may find this test too sharp, especially on likely quick ground. Respected nevertheless.

Form: 65/21PU-

Brave Jaq^h,t¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 12-0| J: J Martin⁽⁵⁾| T: R Potter| OR: 95

10/1

Better effort at Cheltenham on latest start but still didn't settle and faded up the final climb. Needs to settle better here or will find himself vulnerable late in the day again.

Form: PP/3PP-6

Jamrham^p,t¹¹

Age: 11| Weight: 12-0| J: Mr Byron Moorcroft| T: Miss S McQueen| OR: 78| C

50/1

Likes this ground but wasn't up to much under Rules and is in no form at present. Hard to make a solid case for.

Form: 2/2UUP-P

Le Bacardy^p¹⁰

Age: 12| Weight: 12-0| J: Shane Quinlan⁽³⁾| T: A Gardner| OR: 100| D

22/1

Did win an Open at Brampton last year (under similar conditions to today) but form since then has taken a bit of a nosedive. Hard to fancy on recent efforts and others preferred.

Form: 11/5P6-U

Noble Friend^h,t¹¹

Age: 10| Weight: 12-0| J: Mr N Lawton⁽⁷⁾| T: Miss B Childs| OR: 104| C

33/1

Going nowhere fast at present and well beaten on most of his recent starts. Difficult to see him playing a significant part tonight.

Form: PP/4PP-5

Velvet Maker⁶⁹

Age: 9| Weight: 12-0| J: Mr D Maxwell| T: D M Christie| OR: 143| BF

4/1

Very useful 2m chaser at his best for Alan Fleming, often competing in top grade events, but doesn't seem the force of old and was already on the retreat when unseating at Leicester last time. Better ground may help, so hard to totally discount.

Form: 030/8FU-

Exclusive Rights²⁵

Age: 10| Weight: 11-7| J: Mrs C Hardwick⁽³⁾| T: Mrs Claire Hardwick| OR: 90

50/1

Second to Numbercruncher at Stratford last year, a run that came somewhat out of the blue, and she's not repeated it since. These conditions probably suit her best, so she may run better than form suggests, but would still be a surprise winner.

Form: 3P24PP-

Non-Runners

Starkie¹²

Weight: 12-4| Age: 11

T: A Ward-Thomas J: Miss K Lyons

Next Surprise¹¹

Weight: 12-0| Age: 9

T: S Spice J: Mr D Andrews

Forecasts

Wells De Lune (8/11), Numbercruncher (7/2), Velvet Maker (4/1), Brave Jaq (10/1), Starkie (10/1), Le Bacardy (22/1), Next Surprise (25/1), Noble Friend (33/1), Exclusive Rights (50/1), Jamrham (50/1)

Only a handful make any appeal in the finale, and NUMBERCRUNCHER, who likes decent ground and this sort of trip, can get the better of Starkie, back to form last time and another for whom this trip is ideal. Exclusive Rights simply doesn't get much further than this and so it's easy to forgive may of her recnet efforts. She could reward each-way support. Wells De Lune and Velvet Maker would hold chances if coming back to form, but that's far from a given.