Jonjo O´Neill Targets Bet365 Charlie Hall With Iris´s Gift And Black Jack Ketchum

Wetherby Racecourse holds its first major raceday of the season on Saturday, October 28, when the highlight is the #90,000 Grade Two bet365 Charlie Hall Chase (3.25pm), an established early season target for potential Cheltenham Gold Cup contenders.

The programme, which forms the second day of the two-day bet365 Charlie Hall Meeting (Friday, October 27 & Saturday, October 28), also features the #40,000 Grade Two John Smith´s Hurdle (2.50pm), the #25,000 Listed Weatherbys Bank Handicap Chase (2.20pm) and the opening #20,000 Listed Constant Security Wensleydale Juvenile Novices´ Hurdle (1.45pm).

Bet365 has sponsored the past three renewals of the prestigious three mile, one furlong bet365 Charlie Hall Chase, and this year the betting company has generously boosted the prize fund to #90,000, a tremendous 20% increase on the #75,000 on offer in 2005.

The bet365 Charlie Hall Chase could see the return of the Jonjo O´Neill-trained Iris´s Gift. The nine-year-old grey was the excellent winner of the 2004 Grade One Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival but things did not go his way in the second half of last season after notching a hat-trick of victories in his first three novice chases.

O´Neill revealed today: 'He´s ready for the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase and he´ll go there all being well - so long as the ground is right.

'It didn´t go to plan last season but that´s typical with good horses, you have good seasons and bad seasons with them. He was unfortunate in most things that happened last year and it didn´t work out for him.

'He´s starting out in great form this time and we´re very happy with him so it´s full speed ahead.'

The bet365 Charlie Hall Chase has a distinguished history and recent winners include the great Gordon Richards-trained One Man, who scored back-to-back victories in 1996 and 1997 under Richard Dunwoody, while Cheltenham Gold Cup hero See More Business took the Wetherby prize in 1999 and 2000.

The hugely popular Howard Johnson-trained Grey Abbey captured the 2004 renewal on his first start after taking the previous season´s Scottish Grand National, while last year saw the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Ollie Magern defeat a high-class field that included subsequent Grade One Betfair Chase winner Kingscliff and 2005 Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Take The Stand.

Trainer Robert Alner has again picked out the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase as the ideal race to begin Kingscliff´s campaign, while Paul Nicholls has mooted the possibility that his superb Grade One Royal & SunAlliance Chase hero Star de Mohaison could return to action in the Wetherby showpiece.

The Grade Two bet365 Charlie Hall Chase and the Grade Two John Smith´s Hurdle form part of the BHB´s Order Of Merit, which was won in 2005 by the Howard Johnson-trained Inglis Drever, who went on to capture the latter contest on his seasonal bow last year.

Inglis Drever, the champion staying hurdler of the 2004/2005 season is typical of the calibre of horses that contest the three mile, one furlong John Smith´s Hurdle, which could see an exciting seasonal debut for the sensational Black Jack Ketchum who is unbeaten.

The seven-year-old enjoyed a phenomenal 2005/2006 season with five wins including imperious victories in the Grade Two Brit Insurance Novices´ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and the Grade One Citroen C6 Sefton Novices´ Hurdle at Aintree.

O´Neill reported today: 'Black Jack Ketchum is in the John Smith´s Hurdle at Wetherby and we´re looking forward to that. He´s in great form and hopefully he stays in good form until then.

'He´s a very exceptional horse - probably once in a life-time really. Our main worry is keeping him sound because we know how good he is. It´s just a matter of keeping everything right and happy for him. I´m really looking forward to running him to be honest.

'He´s a bit special and, if we get him there right on the day, he´s going to take a bit of beating.'

Alongside Black Jack Ketchum, this year´s running of the John Smith´s Hurdle appears set to attract another high quality field with the Henry Daly-trained Mighty Man a possible, and Alan King eyeing up a challenge with Grade One Ladbrokes World Hurdle victor My Way De Solzen.

High-class winners in recent times include the Mary Reveley-trained Cab On Target (1991 and 1995), Trainglot (1996), Pridwell (1998), who went on to conquer the great Istabraq in the following spring´s Grade One Martell Aintree Hurdle, Silver Wedge (1999), and the Mouse Morris-trained dual winner Boss Doyle (2000 and 2001).