Ollie Magern bids for a bet365 Charlie Hall treble

Ollie Magern has run 3 times in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase, winning twice and finishing runner up on the other occasion. Today he faces only 4 rivals in the curtain raiser to the real national hunt season in the UK.

It's a case of quality rather than quantity in today's class 1 renewal, with Tamarinbleu, Deep Purple, Church Island and Snoopy Loopy up against Twiston-Davies' 11 year old. The market suggests that it will be close.

Current trading on Betfair sees Tamarinbleu the 3.20 favourite, Ollie Magern at 3.65, Deep Purple at 4.6 and Church Island at 9.4. Snoopy Loopy, last year's winner of The Grade 1 Betfair Chase is the 10.00 outsider of the quintet and carries top weight of 11-10.

The following race at Wetherby is a cracking renewal of the John Smith's Hurdle, another Class1 event. Fair Along heads the market at 2.90, followed by old favourites lough Derg and No Refuge, in what should be a close affair.