HEWICK (160) added his name to the list of staying chasers to follow with a scintillating victory in the bet365 Chase, a victory which included a closing sectional from the Pond fence which put Grade 1 Celebration Chase winner Greaneteen (149) in the shade.

Jordan Gainford always enjoyed a handy position with runaway leader Step Back in his sights and his partner delivered an almost foot-perfect round of jumping on the good ground at the Esher track.

The final-circuit time in comparison to the previous chases on the card suggest the pace paused slightly down the back straight before Gainford put the seven-year-old in front jumping the Pond fence for the final time and, with his partner ever willing, finished the race from the Sandown landmark in 39.8secs. Greanateen covered the same ground in 40.2secs.

Given the closing sectional of the winner, Musical Slave (154) and Kitty’s Light (154) were already facing an uphill battle but as they were beaten further at the line than they were behind at the final fence you would have to draw the conclusion the winner won with plenty in hand.

Celebration Chase

Greanateen formed part of a magnificent five-timer for Paul Nicholls as he eased to a second successive Celebration Chase.

The eight-year-old had already put his toiling rivals to the sword by the time he reached the Pond fence as he clocked the fastest final circuit of the day which, by my estimate, was around 20 lengths quicker than Saint Calvados.

To add the gloss to Hewick’s finishing effort, Saint Calvados (151) posted a closing sectional of 41.4secs and Up The Straight (130) 44.3secs.

Shark Hanlon was not wrong about his horse being able to lay up with a two-mile chaser when interviewed post-race and he also reported good ground to be essential for his bargain buy who will have the Grand National as his long-term target.

Knappers Hill (151) was the pick of the performances over hurdles, and he posted a time-figure just short of his achievement in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury.

The six-year-old is set to stay hurdling next season and can be considered when encountering good ground at or around two miles. The Gerry Feilden Hurdle at Newbury may represent a likely early-season target.

Good ground also appears to bring out the best in Boombawn (145) who stayed on for second having raced prominently throughout, Dan Skelton’s gelding has the size and scope to make a smashing two-mile novice chaser next season, while Alto Alto (145) stayed on strongly after the last and can land another handicap hurdle when stepped up in trip to two and a half miles.