There are four Irish-trained horses among the 13 entries for the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Saturday.
Among them is French Dynamite, whose trainer Mouse Morris won the race last year with Gentlemansgame.
French Dynamite has enjoyed a good autumn campaign so far, finishing second in a Grade 2 contest at Gowran Park before a front-running victory in a Grade 3 chase at Punchestown on October 16th.
The nine-year-old has performed well on his previous visits to Britain, including a close second in the 2022 Paddy Power Gold Cup and a fourth in the 2023 Ryanair Chase.
Morris said: “French Dynamite came out of Punchestown in great order and is very likely to travel over.
“He won nicely the last day. He had race fitness on his side, but it was a good performance and opens up a few more doors for him in terms of distance.
“I am trying to get him qualified for the Grand National, so hopefully he can finish in the first four at Wetherby. On his run the last day, he should be competitive, and I can see him running a nice race.”
The early favourites for the Charlie Hall are the Paul Nicholls-trained Bravemansgame and Dan Slelton's Grey Dawning.
Bravemansgame has made his seasonal debut in the West Yorkshire feature in each of the past two seasons, winning impressively in 2022 but finding Gentlemansgame too strong 12 months ago.
He was well beaten in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Aintree Bowl in the spring, but is reported to be in rude health ahead of his return this weekend.
“We’re running Bravemansgame at Wetherby on Saturday in the Charlie Hall. He had an away-day last week with Ginny’s Destiny and went very nicely,” Nicholls told Betfair on Monday.
“The ground looks like being ideal for him, as opposed to last year, and we’re very much looking forward to him running on Saturday.”
Gordon Elliott has entered the Gold Cup runner-up and Bowl winner Gerri Colombe, although he is widely expected to bid for back-to-back victories in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal on the same day.
Elliott could instead saddle Conflated.
Shark Hanlon’s King George hero Hewick is another possible Irish raider, while the home team also features Jeremy Scott’s Dashel Drasher, Dan Skelton’s Grey Dawning, Iroko from Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero’s yard and the Patrick Neville-trained The Real Whacker.
Flegmatik (Skelton), Hang In There (Emma Lavelle), Sam Brown (Anthony Honeyball) and Thunder Rock (Olly Murphy) are the other hopefuls.
Current betting: 11/8 Grey Dawning, 7/4 Bravemansgame, 4 Gerri Colombe, 11/2 Hewick, 7 Conflated, Iroko, 10 French Dynamite, 12 The Real Whacker, 14 Thunder Rock, 25 Dashel Drasher, Hang In There, 33 Sam Brown, 100 Flegmatik