KEY POINTS:
It's always tough comparing horses from different eras.
Yet Wanganui owner-trainer Raymond Connors concedes he does score rising jump star Hypnotize ahead of his signature horse Our Jonty on one crucial count.
"He [Hypnotize] does have a touch more ability, I'd say," said Connors.
"Our Jonty took a
while to come to it, I suppose. But it is hard to compare them."
Our Jonty put his young trainer on the map in 1998 when he won the Great Northern Steeplechase with a 20-year-old Connors in the saddle.
Around 1.55pm today Connors should have a clearer idea if this is the year Hypnotize will emulate the feat.
Everything so far is falling into place for Connors in the vital Ellerslie lead-up, the $50,000 Sweeney Townsend Rotorua Hunt Cup (4900m).
Connors has enticed Jonathan Riddell back from Australia to ride the horse and Hypnotize finally strikes his preferred heavy track.
Hypnotize battled bravely for second in his last jumps assignment, the Waikato Steeples, but winner Black Eagle was simply too sharp for him on the dead Te Rapa surface.
"The other horse was just too good for him on the day, but he is a bit better horse on a heavy track," warns Connors.
"I was hoping he'd win it, but I was happy enough with the run, and he pulled up good."
So well in fact that he won a flat race with ease next time out against R83 rivals over 2100m at Trentham, the same day Black Eagle made it a double in the Wellington Steeples over 5500m.
If there is a chink at Rotorua today, it's Hypnotize's tendency to muck around in his races.
He mixed his jumping during his easy Ken and Roger Browne Memorial win at Te Rapa in May, and again made blunders in the Waikato chase.
"The more he does the better he gets, but he does muck around a bit," said Connors. "He has a bit of a habit of running in, even in his flat races."
Rival trainer Andrew Meikle, also a former amateur rider, prays all the opposition run straight today.
He had the heartache of seeing Waitete Boy and Missy Browne force his pacesetting Jump To It wide of an early double in the Wellington Steeplechase on July 14, ending his race after just five fences.
Even at that early stage, Jump To It, Waitete Boy and eventual winner Black Eagle had already opened up a winning break on the small field.
It's hard, however, lining up Jump To It's form with Hypnotize.
Both are maiden jumps graduates in this campaign, but have yet to clash. They each won 4000m Te Rapa chases three starts back, with Hypnotize running 7s quicker on a slow track.
But Jump To It scored on a 3.9 surface, as opposed to the 3.6 reading Hypnotize struck, and the dashing grey was never really tested in the straight.
Two starts ago Jump To It killed proven open grader Primo Canera, again a Rotorua rival, by nearly 20 lengths at Te Awamutu.
Safely through today, Meikle says Jump To It is likely to follow a similar Northern path to Hypnotize, with a repeat clash likely in the Mad Butcher Pakuranga Hunt Cup at Ellerslie on August 25.