Charlie Hall Chase entries: Former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner heads strong field for Wetherby showcase

Coneygree won the 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup as a novice

Trained by Mark Bradstock, Coneygree made history in 2015 by becoming the first novice to win the blue riband race since Captain Christy in 1974.

The £100,000 race also features the ever popular Cue Card, who won at the West Yorkshire track two years ago, and Brian Ellison’s Definitly Red.

Though connections of the three stars have all expressed an eagerness to run in the contest, the National Hunt season’s traditional early season highlight, the quality of the remaining runners should not be discounted.

They include Jonjo O’Neill’s More Of That, a former winner of the World Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and Blaklion who landed the RSA Chase at Cheltenham in 2016.

Other runners of note include Bristol De Mai who was a runaway winner of Haydock’s Peter Marsh Chase earlier this year, former Wetherby winner Village Vic and top staying chaser Vieux Lion Rouge from the yard of David Pipe.