Abbey heads strong Hall field

Grey Abbey will face seven rivals when he bids to repeat last year’s victory in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Saturday.

Howard Johnson’s bold-jumping grey was better than ever last term, winning three of his four starts.

He recently demonstrated his wellbeing with a workout at Newcastle racecourse last week when he completed just over a circuit of the track at a good pace.

Among the opposition is last season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Take The Stand, who begins his campaign over fences in the £75,000 (€110,286) Grade Two contest having had a prep-run over hurdles last month.

He once again has chasing’s blue riband event as his main target this time around.

Trainer Peter Bowen reports the gelding in “good form” but he is concerned about the testing conditions at the West Yorkshire track.

He said: “It would be better if the rain stayed away. There is nothing wrong with his form on soft ground but he is definitely better on good ground.

“We’ll see how he comes out of this and then he’ll probably go to Haydock (for the Betfair Chase on November 19) and then hopefully back for the Gold Cup with a bit of luck.

“We beat Grey Abbey easy enough in the Gold Cup but that was a different race on different ground.”

The going at Wetherby is currently described as soft.