The entries for the Charlie Hall Chase came out on Monday morning, as ten chasers look to stamp their authority on the staying division this season. Last year’s runner-up Pic D’Orhy bids to go one better for his new handler Dan Skelton, who’s already had success with Johnny de la Hey’s horses moved from Paul Nicholls, with the likes of Captain Teague and Talk To The Man.
Skelton also fields Doyen Quest and Riskintheground, while Nicholls will be looking to get one back on his former assistant, as Twinjets and Hitman were entered by the Ditcheat handler.
The Sue Smith yard has surprisingly not won this contest despite its history of producing staying chasers in the North, but Konfusion has marked himself out as a progressive staying chaser and was excellent twice around Wetherby last season.
Handstands is on the comeback trail after failing to reproduce his Grade 1 hurdling form over fences, as is Master Chewy, who failed to find any consistency last season.
Blow Your Wad improved for the switch to the Moores last season, finishing fourth in the Ultima after placed efforts in the Ascot Chase and Greatwood Gold Cup, before signing off with a second in the Oaksey Chase, while 2024 winner The Real Whacker returned to form at Perth last time out.
This is far from a vintage crop of staying chasers, a theme that is increasingly common among British horses, but let’s not forget some of the National Hunt stalwarts that have taken this contest in the past.
1983 & 1985 – Wayward Lad
Wayward Lad was one of the most prolific winners of the 1980s. A winner of 28 of his 53 races, the Michael Dickinson inmate was a three-time winner of the King George VI Chase. His first Charlie Hall win came in 1983, when he made his seasonal debut after his third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
He’d go on to win the Peterborough Chase next time out, prior to winning the King George for the second time. He could only manage second in the race the following season, but once again he landed the Wetherby feature on his seasonal debut in 1985 and went on to complete a hat-trick of wins in the Boxing Day showpiece.
1999 & 2000 – See More Business
The Paul Nicholls-trained See More Business was one of the finest staying chasers to emerge from Ditcheat. He won 18 of his 36 races, 11 of them in Graded contests, capped by the 1999 Gold Cup.
His first Charlie Hall came in 1999, when making his seasonal debut following his Gold Cup triumph. He’d win the King George next time out and finish the season off with Grade 1 success at Aintree.
He’d reappear to win another Charlie Hall, but never quite hit the same heights following a failed attempt to win another King George.
2012 – Silviniaco Conti
Paul Nicholls had to wait 12 years for another Charlie Hall, but it was certainly worth the wait, as Silviniaco Conti became yet another Ditcheat great.
He was rather unlucky to bump into Cue Card at Chepstow on his chase debut, but that pair would go on to form a brilliant rivalry. Following a 25-length rout of his opposition at Wincanton next time out, he was second in the Grade 1 Feltham Novices’ Chase on Boxing Day, finishing ahead of subsequent Gold Cup winner Bobs Worth.
He finished that season with Grade 1 success at Aintree, before reappearing the following season to bolt up at Wetherby. He progressed rapidly after that, winning the Betfair Chase and the Denman Chase. He’d then bump into Cue Card again at Haydock, before reversing the form at Kempton.
Two more Grade 1 Aintree Bowls followed, along with the Betfair Chase and the King George in 2014.
2015 – Cue Card
Naturally, on to Cue Card then, who became one of the most remarkable chasers of the 2010s for Colin Tizzard.
He won the Champion Bumper in 2010 at 40/1, beating Al Ferof, one of the first ‘star’ horses Dan Skelton was associated with. Al Ferof would reverse the form in the Supreme a year later, but Cue Card excelled over fences. He failed to land a big prize as a novice, albeit bumping into Sprinter Sacre in the Arkle.
He bolted up in the Haldon Gold Cup on his seasonal debut in 2012 and would land the Ryanair that season, before again bumping into Sprinter Sacre.
A Betfair Chase followed a year later on his second try at three miles, a race he would win again in 2015 following his Charlie Hall success, and that was followed by a remarkable triumph in the King George, beating old foes Al Ferof and Silviniaco Conti.
He infamously fell when looking set to win the 2016 Gold Cup, but that didn’t stop him from winning three more Grade 1s in a star-studded era of chasers.
2017 – Bristol De Mai
The gallant grey Bristol De Mai also found himself among a sensational era of chasers, and was perhaps the last of the dominant British stayers.
His novice chase season saw him finish second to Black Hercules in the JLT Novices’ Chase, but his foray into open company saw him bolt up in the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock, a track that became his stomping ground, with six victories in total, including three Betfair Chases, when he beat Cue Card by 57 lengths and both Native River and Clan Des Obeaux.
His Charlie Hall victory in 2017 wasn’t his most fashionable win, but it set him up for arguably the most memorable performance in the Betfair Chase in modern history.