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See the Charlie Hall Chase live hubThe week in short
After a weekend that cost British racing three meetings, this week looks kinder, with one windy day first. The Met Office has a yellow wind warning out for Tuesday 27 October across Scotland, north-east England, Cumbria and parts of Northern Ireland, and it expects higher pressure to bring more settled weather to parts of the UK later in the week.
That matters for Saturday 31 October, which has three meetings worth planning around: the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, the Champion Chase on day two of Down Royal's Festival of Racing, and the Horris Hill Stakes at Newmarket, one of the two Group 3s moved from Newbury.
Wetherby is the odd one out after all the rain. Its clerk says the ground is still good after a dry summer. As of Monday morning no inspection had been called for any meeting this week, but forecasts change, and we will update this page when they do. What the storms cost at the weekend is in our weekend review.
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The forecast: one more windy day, then calmer
The Met Office's outlook, last updated on Saturday 24 October, has unsettled weather carrying on into Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 October, mainly in the north, as another area of low pressure arrives. Towards the end of the week it says higher pressure may bring more settled conditions to parts of the UK. The outlook does not name another storm.
Tuesday's warning. When we read the Met Office warnings page on Monday morning it listed one warning: yellow, for wind, from 3am to 11.59pm on Tuesday 27 October. It says gusts of 50 to 60mph are possible quite widely, with 70mph or more on some coasts and exposed ground, though where the strongest gusts land is uncertain. The areas covered are:
- Scotland: Central, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Eilean Siar, Orkney, Strathclyde, and south-west Scotland, Lothian and the Borders.
- North East England, including County Durham, Northumberland and Newcastle upon Tyne, and Cumbria in the North West.
- Northern Ireland: Counties Antrim, Down and Londonderry.
West and North Yorkshire are not on the list, and neither is anywhere south of them. The Met Office page carried a notice that some warnings may be out of date because of a problem with its service, so check the Met Office warnings page for the latest before you travel or bet.
Monday to Wednesday: who is racing, and any doubts
Monday 26 October. Seven meetings in Britain and Ireland: Galway, Wexford, Redcar, Hereford, Leicester, and evening all-weather cards at Kempton and Southwell. Galway's card is the jumps fixture moved from Saturday, with the going given as Soft to Heavy on the chase course and Soft on the hurdles course. When we checked the Racing Post cards on Monday morning, none of the seven had an inspection or abandonment notice.
Tuesday 27 October. Five meetings: Galway's Flat card, moved back a day from Monday and listed on Heavy, plus Catterick on the Flat, jumps at Bangor-on-Dee and Newcastle, and an evening card at Wolverhampton. Newcastle is the one to watch. It sits inside the yellow warning area, and its first race is at 12.56pm. No inspection had been called there when we checked on Monday. Aintree's decision on Sunday came early that morning, so a late call is possible. Catterick, in North Yorkshire, is outside the listed warning area.
Wednesday to Friday. By Monday morning we had found no inspection announced for any fixture later in the week. The forecast improves as the week goes on, but rain that has already fallen still counts: Galway's Tuesday card was listed on Heavy before a race had been run.
For the latest fields and going on any card, see our racecards and tomorrow's racecards.
Wetherby: good ground for the Charlie Hall
The bet365 Charlie Hall Meeting runs on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, and the Charlie Hall Chase itself, a Grade 2 over 3m 45y worth £100,000, is on the Saturday. The Racing Post card lists it at 2.55pm. No runners are shown yet.
The going. Wetherby had 14mm of rain on Saturday 24 October, and it made little difference after a long, dry summer. Clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson told the Racing Post on Sunday: "It's still good ground." He said a strong drying wind meant he would not call it any closer to good to soft than it had been on Friday. The Racing Post card has the going as Good.
The forecast at the course. Sanderson expected light rain on and off from Sunday to Wednesday, adding up to about 8mm in small bursts, then about 5mm on Friday night into Saturday. He thought the back straight might be on the easy side of good and the home straight on the quicker side. Wetherby is not in Tuesday's warning area.
What our database says. Our race record, which starts in October 2023, holds three Charlie Hall Chases: Gentlemansgame won in 2023 with four runners, The Real Whacker in 2024 with six, and DjeloAdd Djelo to the Horse Tracker for Venetia Williams in 2025 with five. Three runnings, three different winning trainers. At Wetherby's jumps fixtures as a whole, Dan Skelton has the most winners in our record, 20 from 83 runners, and 9 from 36 in the late October to November stretch of the season. Jamie Snowden (10 from 23) and Ben Pauling (9 from 26) have higher strike rates on much smaller samples. These are records, not betting angles, and none of them says anything about this year's ground.
The Charlie Hall Chase guide covers the race's history and the Wetherby racecard will carry the declared field.
Down Royal's Festival of Racing
Down Royal's BetVictor Festival of Racing is on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October, with the first race at 12.30pm on both days and the Champion Chase, a Grade 1 over 3m, on the Saturday. The dates are the same on Down Royal's own fixtures page and on Horse Racing Ireland's festival page.
The going. Not published yet. When we checked on Monday 26 October, Down Royal's fixtures page still said the going would be updated before the next meeting, and there was no inspection notice. We have not found a forecast for the course itself for Friday or Saturday, so we are not going to guess at the ground.
The weather. Tuesday's yellow wind warning covers parts of Northern Ireland, including Counties Antrim and Down. That is three days before the festival starts, and the Met Office says higher pressure may bring more settled weather later in the week, but keep an eye on how much rain comes with Tuesday's wind.
What our database says. At Down Royal's jumps fixtures since November 2023, Gordon Elliott has trained 41 winners from 174 runners, and 21 from 70 at the three autumn festivals in that record. As at Wetherby, that is a record of what happened, not a prediction.
The Down Royal racecourse guide has the course and the Down Royal racecard will carry the fields.
Newmarket: the two Group 3s from Newbury
Newmarket's Rowley Mile picks up the two Group 3s that Newbury lost on Saturday. The St Simon Stakes is now on Friday 30 October and the Horris Hill Stakes on Saturday 31 October, with the Horserace Betting Levy Board contributing to both prize funds. The Horris Hill is open to fillies this year to make up for the lost Radley Stakes.
We have not found a going report for either day yet. The last time Newmarket raced, on Thursday 22 October, our racecard feed had the ground as Soft (GoingStick 6.4), and Storm Austen arrived the next day. Newmarket's going for Friday and Saturday will be on the Newmarket racecard once the fields are declared.
Which of Newbury's declared runners turn up is not known yet. Our weekend review lists the horses declared for both races at Newbury, each with a follow link for your Horse Tracker.
Before you bet on a changeable week
The going can change between an entry and a declaration, and this week's forecast has rain at Wetherby on and off before Saturday. A bet placed now on the Charlie Hall, the Champion Chase or the two Newmarket Group 3s is a bet placed before the fields and the final going are known. If a horse you back is taken out because the ground has gone against it, how the bet is settled depends on your bookmaker's ante-post rules, which our guide to ante-post betting explains.
If a meeting is abandoned, a bet on a race that is not run is void under standard bookmaker rules and the stake is returned. A race moved to another day or course can be treated differently, so check your operator's own terms.
The AI Lab publishes its ratings for British and Irish cards on the today page on the day of racing.
Bet responsibly
A big Saturday after a quiet weekend is easy to overdo. Decide on a budget for the week before you bet and stop when it is spent. If gambling stops being fun, free confidential support is available from BeGambleAware on 0808 8020 133. 18+.
Frequently asked questions
Sources and verification
Checked on Monday 26 October 2026 against:
- Met Office warnings page and the Met Office outlook (updated 24 October)
- Racing Post: Wetherby ground and the Old Roan abandonment (updated 25 October) and the Racing Post Charlie Hall card
- Racing Post racecards for Monday and Tuesday, Wetherby Racecourse and Newcastle Racecourse
- Down Royal fixtures and Horse Racing Ireland
- BHA: St Simon and Horris Hill rescheduled
The Charlie Hall runnings and the trainer records at Wetherby and Down Royal come from our own results database, which starts in October 2023, and Newmarket's last going from our racecard feed. They are our records rather than a second independent source. Weather forecasts change: we will update this page as the week goes on.
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