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Wetherby Charlie Hall Meeting |
Deep Purple Given a 20-1 Opening Quote for William Hill King George 31/10/09
1 (2) Deep Purple 9/2
2 (5) Tamarinbleu 2/1 (F)
King George VI Chase sponsors William Hill have given the Evan Williams trained Deep Purple an opening show quote of 20-1 for the Kempton race following his dramatic win in the Charlie Hall Chase on Saturday afternoon. Kauto Star remains the 10-11 favourite for the William Hill King George VI Chase.
bet365 CHARLIE HALL CHASE HISTORY
The Grade Two bet365 Charlie Hall Chase this year boasts record prize money of £100,000, making it the richest race ever staged at the Yorkshire course.
The extended three-mile chase commemorates the late local trainer Charlie Hall, who was based at Towton, just to the south of Tadcaster, and recorded the biggest success of his career when Doorknocker won the 1956 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Hall saddled a remarkable 169 winners at Wetherby. In all, he trained 584 winners over jumps, plus plenty on the Flat.
The race, previously known as the Wetherby Pattern Chase, was first run in honour of Hall in 1978, following his death in 1977 at the age of 75. Prior to 1978, it was run as the Wetherby Pattern Chase.
Over the years, the Charlie Hall Chase has been a high-class contest with four winners - Davy Lad, Burrough Hill Lad, Forgive’N Forget and See More Business - also winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup, while the 1990 and 1991 victor Celtic Shot had previously landed the Champion Hurdle.
It was a novice event up until the 1983 running, won by Wayward Lad. Wayward Lad, famously runner-up to Dawn Run in the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup and winner of the King George VI Chase at Kempton three times, was again successful in 1985. In between, he was beaten by Jenny Pitman’s Burrough Hill Lad in 1984.
Barton Bank made the step up from novice company look easy when beating Cab On Target in 1993 before going on to victory in that season’s Grade One King George VI Chase at Kempton.
The David Nicholson-trained chaser returned to Wetherby the following season but several blunders led to him falling two fences from home, handing victory to Young Hustler, and another bad mistake saw him snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at Kempton the following month
He gained revenge over Young Hustler in the 1995 running of the Charlie Hall Chase, but had to settle for second for the next two seasons, chasing home the mighty One Man on both occasions.
Trained by Gordon Richards, One Man also triumphed in Kempton’s King George VI Chase in 1996 and went on to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the 1998 Cheltenham Festival.
See More Business was another dual winner of the race, following up his Cheltenham Gold Cup success with victory here in 1999 before going on to King George VI Chase glory. He returned to Wetherby the following season to record an effortless 30-length triumph.
In 2006, Our Vic provided trainer David Pipe with his first big-race success when beating subsequent Grade One winner Neptune Collonges and the David Johnson-owned gelding went on to victory at the highest level in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Ollie Magern returned to Wetherby in 2007 to notch his second bet365 Charlie Hall Chase triumph following his initial success in 2005, but the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained chaser could only finish second to State Of Play, with subsequent Grade One Betfair Chase winner Snoopy Loopy back in third.
A superb seven-race card on the second day of the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase Meeting also includes the £43,000 Grade Two John Smith’s Hurdle (2.50pm), which represents the first major test of the season for the top staying hurdlers.
The three mile and one furlong contest has been won by some of the leading performers of recent times including 1997 scorer Pridwell, who went on to beat the legendary Istabraq in the Grade One Aintree Hurdle later that season.
Irish raider Boss Doyle finished second in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase on his first visit to Wetherby in 1998 but returned two years later to triumph in the John Smith’s Hurdle before repeating the feat 12 months later. The Mouse Morris-trained gelding tried for a hat-trick in 2002 but could only finish second to Brother Joe.
The Howard Johnson-trained Inglis Drever was successful in the race in 2005, having won the first of his three Grade One Ladbrokes World Hurdles at Cheltenham the previous season, while the 2007 renewal was won by Grade One novice scorer Black Jack Ketchum, who battled to a neck victory over Faasel.
Last year saw Pettifour get the better of Mobaasher in a thrilling finish. The Nigel-Twiston-Davies-trained winner ended last season with a fine second in the Grade One World Series Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival and is on course to bid for a repeat victory at Wetherby this term.
Saturday’s card also includes the third running of the £40,000 Listed Best Odds Guaranteed at bet365 Mares’ Hurdle (2.20pm), which was created in 2007 as part of a series of mares’ only Pattern races designed to increase the opportunities available to female performers.
The inaugural running went to Annie’s Answer, who provided local trainer Jane Makin with the biggest success of her career by getting the better of the David Pipe-trained Gaspara in a thrilling finish.
My Petra recorded a comfortable four-length success in last year’s race and the versatile Nicky Henderson-trained mare went on to further glory over fences on her next start in a Grade Two Chase at Ascot.
THE bet365 CHARLIE HALL CHASE - ROLL OF HONOUR
YEAR WINNER AGE/WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP RAN
1969 ARCTURUS 8-11-10 Neville Crump Pat Buckley 11/4 3
1970 KILDRUMMY 5-11-07 Bill Crawford Ron Barry 100/30 8
1971 Abandoned - snow & frost
1972 COXSWAIN 7-11-10 Arthur Stephenson Mr Graham Macmillan 4/5F 8
1973 DUNROBIN 6-11-05 Bill Crawford S P Taylor 4/5F 6
1974 TAMALIN 7-11-09 Gordon Richards Jonjo O’Neill 9/4 7
1975 DAVY LAD 5-11-07 Mick O’Toole IRE Dessie Hughes 2/5F 5
1976 DH SET POINT 8-11-09 Lady Herries Tommy Stack 20/1 6
DH CURRENT GOLD 5-11-07 Gordon Richards David Goulding 4/1
1977 GOOLAGONG 7-11-09 Neville Crump Mr Harry Orde-Powlett 8/1 8
1978 FIGHTING FIT 6-11-09 Ken Oliver Ridley Lamb 6/5F 5
1979 SPARKIE’S CHOICE 6-11-09 Neville Crump Colin Hawkins 9/2 8
1980 MANTON CASTLE 6-11-09 Maurice Camacho Gordon Holmes 16/1 9
1981 GAY RETURN 6-11-10 Edward O’Grady IRE Tommy Ryan 12/1 11
1982 RIGHTHAND MAN 5-11-07 Michael Dickinson Graham Bradley 11/10F 10
1983 WAYWARD LAD 8-11-10 Michael Dickinson Robert Earnshaw 1/3F 3
1984 BURROUGH HILL LAD 8-11-09 Jenny Pitman Phil Tuck 10/11JF 4
1985 WAYWARD LAD 10-11-06 Monica Dickinson Graham Bradley EvensF 4
1986 FORGIVE’N FORGET 9-11-10 Jimmy FitzGerald Mark Dwyer 5/2 6
1987 CYBRANDIAN 9-11-02 Peter Easterby Chris Grant 7/4 4
1988 HIGH EDGE GREY 7-11-02 Ken Oliver Tim Reed 13/2 10
1989 DURHAM EDITION 11-11-02 Arthur Stephenson Alan Merrigan 33/1 7
1990 CELTIC SHOT 8-11-02 Charlie Brooks Peter Scudamore 7/4F 7
1991 CELTIC SHOT 9-11-10 Charlie Brooks Graham Bradley 4/5F 6
1992 TIPPING TIM 7-11-02 Nigel Twiston-Davies Carl Llewellyn 11/4 7
1993 BARTON BANK 7-11-02 David Nicholson Adrian Maguire 12/1 7
1994 YOUNG HUSTLER 7-11-10 Nigel Twiston-Davies Carl Llewellyn 8/1 7
1995 BARTON BANK 9-11-02 David Nicholson Adrian Maguire 8/15F 3
1996 ONE MAN 8-11-10 Gordon Richards Richard Dunwoody 8/11F 4
1997 ONE MAN 9-11-10 Gordon Richards Richard Dunwoody 4/7F 4
1998 STRATH ROYAL 12-11-03 Owen Brennan Martin Brennan 14/1 5
1999 SEE MORE BUSINESS 9-11-12 Paul Nicholls Mick Fitzgerald 11/4JF 6
2000 SEE MORE BUSINESS 10-11-12 Paul Nicholls Mick Fitzgerald 1/3F 4
2001 SACKVILLE 8-11-05 Frances Crowley IRE David Casey 5/1 9
2002 MARLBOROUGH 10-11-00 Nicky Henderson Mick Fitzgerald 7/2 8
2003 BALLYBOUGH RASHER 8-11-00 Howard Johnson Graham Lee 40/1 6
2004 GREY ABBEY 10-11-06 Howard Johnson Graham Lee 5/1 6
2005 OLLIE MAGERN 7-11-05 Nigel Twiston-Davies Carl Llewellyn 11/4F 8
2006 OUR VIC 8-11-10 David Pipe Timmy Murphy 6/1 10
2007 OLLIE MAGERN 9-11-00 Nigel Twiston-Davies Paddy Brennan 11/4 7
2008 STATE OF PLAY 8-11-00 Evan Williams Paul Moloney 5/2F 6
