Paul Nicholls is preparing
Unioniste and Tidal Bay for the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase
Meeting, which takes place at Wetherby on Friday, November 1 and Saturday,
November 2.
Unioniste, winner of last
season's Grade Three December Gold Cup at Cheltenham, is on course for the
£100,000 bet365 Charlie Hall Chase over three miles and a furlong on day two of
Wetherby's biggest meeting of the year.
The five-year-old has been
successful on three of his five starts over fences since joining Nicholls from
France and was last seen finishing fourth in the Grade One RSA Chase at the
Cheltenham Festival in March.
Nicholls, who captured the
Grade Two Wetherby prize with Silviniaco Conti in 2012 and See More Business
(1999 & 2000), reported: "The plan is to run Unioniste in the bet365
Charlie Hall Chase. He has done very well over the summer and is in good shape.
"He had done plenty
last season, having run through the summer in France, and was probably a bit
over the top in the RSA Chase.
"He is year older and
wiser now and we are very happy with him, but he has got to step up on what he
has accomplished so far."
Unioniste is likely to
clash with 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Long Run whose owner, Robert
Waley-Cohen, revealed on Twitter that the Nicky Henderson-trained
eight-year-old had worked well at the weekend and could make his seasonal
return in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase. Others who may run in the bet365
Charlie Hall Chase include Grand National winner Auroras Encore, trained
in Yorkshire by Sue Smith, and Grand Crus from David Pipe's Somerset
yard.
Nicholls also plans to
send Tidal Bay to Wetherby to defend his crown in the £36,500 Grade Two bet365
Hurdle over three miles and a furlong. The 12-year-old scored impressively last
year and went on to land a top-class renewal of the Grade One Lexus Chase at
Leopardstown in late December. He has not been seen since due to a stress
fracture of the lower cannon bone on his right hind leg.
Nicholls added:
"Tidal Bay is in good form and runs in the bet365 Hurdle. He has come back
from his injury well and I am very happy with him.
"I am going to get
Wetherby out the way first and then make a plan after that."
The bet365 Charlie Hall
Chase Meeting also features the £22,500 Listed OLBG.com Mares' Hurdle on the
Saturday, when the first of the seven races takes place at 12.45pm.
There is also excellent
racing on the opening day, Friday, November 1, with the six-race programme
getting under way at 1.10pm and including the £25,000 Listed bet365 Handicap
Chase.
Wetherby staged its first
fixture of the new jump season on Wednesday, October 16.
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