'This could set the standard for the staying chase division until Boxing Day' - Keith Melrose on why this year's Charlie Hall matters

For all the low turnout, this is a Charlie Hall worth celebrating. At the most cautious assessment, this has drawn two of Britain's four best staying chasers out of their summer break.

It is sometimes debated whether a four-runner race can be talked up without any hint of embarrassment. The 2022 Clarence House Chase, with Shishkin and Energumene and two others you probably cannot name now, has settled the discussion for the time being. That was a Grade 1 and the Grade 2 conditions in the Charlie Hall mean that it can be even more interesting.

Under Grade 1 conditions, which means level weights for all excepting weight-for-age and weight-for-sex, Gentlemansgame and Midnight River would not have much of a prayer. In this race they get a helping hand. Gentlemansgame receives 6lb, his only chase win came in a maiden at Leopardstown last Christmas. Either side of it, he was third in Punchestown's Champion Stayers Hurdle and split Easy Game and Envoi Allen on his second chase start five weeks ago.