KEY POINTS:
You might think Hypnotize is in the same bind often facing top jumpers when he tackles tomorrow's $40,000 The Mad Butcher Pakuranga Hunt Cup.
It's called weight.
But, in fact he's not.
At first glance at the record books you compare the 67kg allotted to Hypnotize as being close to the 69kg carried by Chum in his outstanding win in this race in 1977 - the highest weight carried successfully in the event since metrication in 1974.
Not even close. Chum won with his big weight off a minimum of 57kg and Hypnotize encounters a 63kg minimum.
In effect, Chum carried 7kg more.
Hypnotize is also protected by a clause included into this race for the first time by the Pakuranga Hunt Club.
It allows for a maximum re-handicap from this race to the $120,000 Great Northern Steeplechase in two weeks of just three handicap points, or a maximum 1kg.
But chief handicapper Dean Nowell said yesterday even that re-handicap is unlikely.
Nowell gave Hypnotize an additional 1kg for winning last year's Pakuranga Hunt Cup and the horse won the Great Northern Steeplechase with 65kg.
"Whether there is any re-handicap for the Great Northern will depend on a number of things," said Nowell yesterday.
"You might, for example, make the case that one of the topweights in this race already had enough weight for the Northern, which is a much tougher race than this one.
"Then, if one horse beats another by a nose you have to be careful because you can re-handicap the winner, but you can't touch the second horse."
Hypnotize has 3kg more than when he won this race last year, but he's good enough to probably overcome that.
His connections have been careful to protect his handicap weight with the big winter prizes in mind - he hasn't had a steeplechase start since winning last year's Great Northern.
He's had three flat races and four hurdles races, the only victory coming in the hurdles at Manawatu last week. He showed plenty of dash in that race, coming into contention from the 500m and racing away late.
The slight concern is that where Hypnotize had three steeplechase runs going into last year's big Ellerslie double, this time he has not had one preliminary outing over the big fences.
But his part-owner and trainer Raymond Connors is very astute and has plenty of experience getting horses ready for big tasks.
There to make his job tough will be Proposition (65kg) and Captain Jingle (64kg), who have emerged this winter as potential headline stars.
Proposition looked the goods when he won the McGregor Grant Steeplechase at Ellerslie and was then beaten less than two lengths by Captain Jingle in the Hawkes Bay Steeples. He missed a run in the Wellington Steeples when the meeting was canned and narrowly won the Inter-Island Steeples at Paeroa.
Trainer Ben Foote admitted yesterday he is extremely worried about Hypnotize.
"He's the class factor.
"My horse is well and he's up to the mark - there won't be any excuses if he's beaten."
Captain Jingle's trainer Bob Autridge is less upbeat.
Autridge says he doesn't quite know where he is with the lightly-raced jumper after competing at the rain-soaked Grand National meeting at Riccarton.
"He didn't fire up in the Grand National, but all along I'd been worried about the recovery time of only two days, when the lead-up race was run on the Wednesday instead of the previous Saturday.
"We'd been planning on a six-day recovery and the two days just didn't suit him."
The atrocious track conditions at Riccarton also helped mask where Captain Jingle might have been in relation to his best form.
"I'm very happy with his condition since Riccarton and we've just got to get in there and see if he can handle this field and what is certain to be a heavy track. If he can't measure up then there's not much point in carrying on to the Great Northern."
Fair King, a past winner over Ellerslie's hill, also has prospects.
$40,000 HUNT CUP
* Hypnotize has to carry topweight of 67kg, 3.5 kg more than he won this race last year.
* But it's nowhere near the 69kg Chum carried off a 57kg minimum weight in 1977, compared to a 63kg minimum here.
* Proposition and Captain Jingle look formidable rivals.
