16:15 Warwick

Monday 22 January 2024

All13:0513:3514:0514:3515:0515:4016:15

Willoughby De Broke Open Hunters' Chase

Off time: 16:16 | Winning time: 6m 42.20s

Cybernetic²⁹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 12-6| J: Mr Edward Vaughan⁽⁷⁾| T: Tim Vaughan

18/1

Winner of 3 of his 7 starts over fences in France absent since finishing down the field over hurdles last spring. Hard to know what to expect of him on this UK/hunter debut, and perhaps the betting will offer clues.

Form: F41F87-

D'jango^t¹⁴

Age: 11| Weight: 12-6| J: Miss Immy Robinson⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss V Collins| OR: 109

9/1

Appeared to be very much on the decline prior to chasing home the unbeaten Regatta De Blanc on hunter debut for new yard at Taunton (21.7f, soft) a fortnight ago. Remains to be seen if he will be able to build on that.

Form: V24882

Espoir De Guye^t³⁰³

Age: 10| Weight: 12-6| J: Miss N Parker⁽³⁾| T: S Loxton| OR: 133| C

7/2

Useful chaser at his best but ran poorly on final outing for Paul Nicholls 10 months ago (reportedly bled). Winner of the second of his 2 starts over regulation fences here, though, and it'll be interesting to how he shapes up in the betting on this hunter/stable debut.

Form: 16P/856-

Just Don't Know²⁴

Age: 11| Weight: 12-6| J: Mr Paddy Barlow⁽⁵⁾| T: Paul Robson| OR: 118| D

12/1

Dual winner again last term and stepped up on his reappearance run when runner-up in 6-runner handicap chase at Kelso (26.2f, heavy). Still, he'll need a few of these to underperform if he's to make a successful hunter debut.

Form: 16P-242

Jobsonfire²⁷⁴

Age: 12| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr Benjamin Abbott⁽⁷⁾| T: S Allwood| OR: 109| D

150/1

Lost his form when last seen under Rules and latest effort between the flags was uninspiring, too.

Form: P23/PP4-

Rewritetherules^t²³⁴

Age: 10| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr David O'Brien⁽⁷⁾| T: David O'Brien| OR: 99| D

80/1

Multiple point winner and posted his best effort under Rules for a while when third of 9 in a Stratford hunter (17f, good) last summer. Stepping back up in trip will help but he looks up against it here in any case.

Form: PU2-P43

Russian Diamond^b1⁸

Age: 10| Weight: 11-12| J: Paddy Hanlon⁽⁷⁾| T: Francesca Poste| OR: 132| D

33/1

Fairly useful hurdler/chaser in Ireland but failed to trouble the judge in 4 starts under Rules last year and has failed to complete on 3 of his 4 starts in points since October. Blinkers applied.

Form: F0PP3P

Tea Clipper^p²⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: Mr James King| T: T Lacey| OR: 137| BF| C| D

4/9

Winless since scoring at Chepstow back in October 2021 but has subsequently acquitted himself well in a number of handicaps, including all 3 starts at around 3m this season. James King a positive booking and likely to prove hard to beat now pitched into a hunter.

Form: 68-9223

Non-Runners

Myth Buster²²

Weight: 12-2| Age: 11

T: S Bradstock J: Miss L Bradstock

Forecasts

Tea Clipper (4/9), Espoir De Guye (7/2), Myth Buster (8/1), D'jango (9/1), Just Don't Know (12/1), Cybernetic (18/1), Russian Diamond (33/1), Rewritetherules (80/1), Jobsonfire (150/1)

TEA CLIPPER hasn't done much wrong in good quality handicap chases at top tracks since returning to action in October, and it will be disappointing should he fail to deliver on this hunter debut. For all that he has a fair bit to prove at present, Espoir de Guye is nevertheless the clear second choice ahead of Myth Buster.