Shan Blue bypasses Charlie Hall date

Bruised foot scuppers Wetherby plan.

Shan Blue will have to wait another year to win the Bet365 Charlie Hall Chase after Dan Skelton revealed the talented chaser would not be in the entries for the Grade Two chase when they are released on Monday.

A useful novice in the 2020-21 season, he was sent off favourite to make a winning start last term and appeared home and hosed in the Wetherby showpiece when he was around 20 lengths clear approaching the third last.

Unfortunately he took a heavy fall there and was not seen again until the Cheltenham Festival, where he was no match for Allaho in the Ryanair Chase.

He went on to finish second at the Grand National meeting and Skelton was keen to make amends at the West Yorkshire track next weekend, but a bruised foot will keep him out for the early months of the season.

“I am really happy with how our horses have started this season. It has been a little bit frustrating that we haven’t been able to run more because of the ground, but the rain is coming and it feels like it’s about to hot up,” Skelton told his Ladbrokes blog.

“I should also report that Shan Blue’s name won’t be in the entries for the Charlie Hall as he wasn’t quite right at the start of the week. We have done some investigating and he has a deep-seated bruise in his foot that will take a few weeks to clear up, so he should be back around Christmas.”

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