Hunter Chase - 5.45 Exeter

[Darran]

This is the last race I will be in the country for until the Aintree Foxhunter as I am flying to Australia on Monday night and don't come back until the day before Aintree starts. The form books will be making the journey with me though and the previews will still be here although they are likely to be at strange times of the day given the time difference. What is a bit frustrating is that this race and the Carlisle race have taken place before I go away because there is little to write about them. No doubt the 8 that happen when I am away will need a fair bit of study!

Road To Riches is set to head to Aintree after his win today, but it obviously told us nothing new about him. I think the Aintree Foxhunter will be harder to win than the Cheltenham version and he doesn't really strike me as a likely winner.

The problem with Maxwell increasing the amount of horses he owns means he can target more races and races like the Exeter one on Monday that he normally wouldn't have a horse for. For the 2nd day running it means we have a massively uncompetitive race. Diplomate Sivola should win this with ease and it is much weaker than the Catterick race he won a couple of weeks ago. The fact he is 1/6 tells its own story.

Summons To Court is making his debut for Jimmy Frost having been in Ireland before. He was 2nd in a maiden Hunter Chase at Limerick over Christmas, but he was 11L behind the winner who happened to run in a handicap on Sunday at the same track. He finished 3rd off a mark of 107 so based on that Summons To Court is a mid 90s horse at best.

In Arrers has won a Restricted and an Intermediate in 4 points so far this season. He is only 7 and he is clearly progressing nicely, but the times have been nothing special and the form isn't overly strong. He won on soft ground last time so at least he handles the ground.

The only other real contender is Kit Barry. He managed 3rd in a couple of Hunter Chases at Cheltenham and Worcester last season and although they were pretty weak affairs those efforts would give him a fair chance of being 2nd in this. The problem is he is he ran terribly in his only run so fair this season last month so he would need to come on for that to be best of the rest here.

As on Sunday I don't have an overly strong view on who will finish 2nd, but if pushed I think Kit Barry is the value as it stands. Again like on Sunday I won't be recommending a bet though.

The next races are at Chepstow and Ludlow on Thursday, Newbury on Friday and Bangor on Saturday. 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Darran