John Hewitt Memorial Open Hunters' Chase

Off time: 17:00 | Winning time: 5m 32.8s

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Selected odds by:

Pacha Du Polder¹⁷⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 12-8| J: Bryony Frost⁽³⁾| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 137

9/4

Hit the headlines for carrying Victoria Pendleton at Cheltenham last season, after winning under her at Wincanton over 2m 4f in a similar contest. Failed to add to that win thus far, but comes here fresh and from a top yard going well, so cannot be ruled out.

Form: 6-33411

Grand Vision¹⁵

Age: 11| Weight: 12-4| J: Mr M Legg| T: C L Tizzard| OR: 131

1/1

Soft ground hunter chase scorer at Warwick last time and generally a very consistent performer, who can be relied upon to produce a decent effort more often than not. Has a few pounds to find with Pacha Du Polder, but that is far from insurmountable.

Form: 324-312

Colbert Station^t¹⁵

Age: 13| Weight: 12-0| J: Mr J J O'Neill⁽⁵⁾| T: J & A O'Neill| OR: 123

11/1

Not won for over four years but can still throw in the odd good run and handles the forecast conditions. Others preferred today, however.

Form: 6432U2-

Poole Master^t¹⁵

Age: 12| Weight: 12-0| J: Mr D Edwards| T: C Honour| OR: 122

9/2

148-rated chaser at his best, with good form over similar trips and with cut underfoot. However, not shown enough in recent runs to suggest that he will trouble the likely market leaders today.

Form: 5/5410-F

Whichwaytobougie²⁶

Age: 8| Weight: 12-0| J: Mr P Thomas⁽⁷⁾| T: R A Owen

100/1

Sole success came in a good ground Newcastle handicap hurdle (good) almost two years ago and had just one start under rules since, before switching to point-to-points. Well beaten in that sphere on several occasions and easy to oppose.

Form: 754454-

Non-Runners

Big Fella Thanks⁴⁵

Weight: 12-8| Age: 15

T: T R George J: Mr N George

Forecasts

Grand Vision (1/1), Pacha Du Polder (9/4), Poole Master (9/2), Big Fella Thanks (5/1), Colbert Station (11/1), Whichwaytobougie (100/1)

Most of these have been very decent performers in their prime and we will take GRAND VISION to eclipse the top-rated Pacha Du Polder on this occasion. Colin Tizzard's charge is just a very consistent performer and is likely to give punters a similar level of performance once again. Big Fella Thanks may still have enough ability to take home a portion of the money on offer. 1. Grand Vision 2. Pacha Du Polder 3. Big Fella Thanks