Sam Spinner targeting Charlie Hall return

O’Keeffe star over injury issue.

Jedd O’Keeffe is aiming Sam Spinner at the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on October 31.

Unbeaten in three races over fences, O’Keeffe’s stable star was denied an outing at the Cheltenham Festival after sustaining a pelvic injury when winning a Grade Two novice chase at Doncaster.

The eight-year-old, who finished second behind Paisley Park in the 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle, had four months of box rest but has been back in exercise since June.

Sam Spinner was on the schooling grounds at the weekend and O’Keeffe plans to increase his workload in the coming weeks.

“He’s coming along really well and we’re very happy with him,” said O’Keeffe.

“That was his first schooling session since his injury and it all went very well.

“Obviously we’re going to school him again, next time over fences – or the French hurdles we have – and hopefully he’s on target for the Charlie Hall.”

He added: “He’s extremely difficult to place. We were either looking at a big handicap with plenty of weight in a big field, or going in a race like the Charlie Hall where, he might not be good enough, but it will probably be in a small field around a track where he has won twice already. We think that is probably the lesser of the two evils.

“We’ve had a bit of rain recently so the ground should be lovely. So the Charlie Hall is the plan at this stage.”

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