The bet365 Charlie Hall Chase is one of the first significant graded races for the returning jump stars of the season. Usually run at Wetherby, the Charlie Hall is a Grade 2 event run over 3 miles and a furlong, where there are 18 fences to cross.
The event was established back 1969, where it was originally known as the Wetherby Pattern Chase. It replaced the Emblem Handicap Chase, a handicap named after Emblem - the winner of the Grand National in 1863. The race became known as the Charlie Hall Memorial Wetherby Pattern Chase in 1978, in memory of the great trainer Charlie Hall. This was shortened to the present title twelve years later, in 1990.
Over the years, there have been some memorable winners of the Charlie Hall. The hugely popular Cue Card – trained by Colin Tizzard, won this race in superb fashion in 2015, and went on to land both the Betfair Chase at Haydock and Kempton’s King George VI on Boxing Day. He unfortunately fell 3 out when in contention for the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup when on the hunt for the Jumps Triple Crown.
The 2017 renewal was claimed by Bristol De Mai - trained by Nigel Twiston Davies, who now holds the record as the trainer with the most winners of this race. Bristol de Mai went onto win the first leg of the Triple Crown – the Betfair Chase, by one of the biggest margins ever recorded in a Grade 1 race. However, after disappointing in the King George at Kempton, injury ruled him out for the rest of the season.