Is the Welsh Grand National a credible trial for the Grand National?

Is the Welsh Grand National a credible trial for the Grand National? Nowadays run over 3 miles, 6 furlongs and 130 yards, the Welsh Grand National has been a fixture of the Yuletide programme at Chepstow since 1979. Notwithstanding the fact that the going at Chepstow in late December is often soft or heavy, the marathon distance of the Welsh Grand National and its position in the calendar – three months or so before the Grand National, in late March or early April – ought to make it a reliable trial for the Aintree showpiece.

However, it may surprise you to learn that, since 1979, just four horses have won both races and just two of them did so in the same season. The first of them, Corbiere, trained by Jenny Pitman, fought out a tremendous finish with Pilot Officer in the 1982 Welsh Grand National, eventually winning by a head. In the 1983 Grand National, Corbiere held off Greasepaint by three-quarters of a length, thereby making Jenny Pitman the first woman to saddle a Grand National winner.

In 1997, having returned from a 634-day break at Haydock Park in mid-November, Earth Summit, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, won the Welsh Grand National at odds of 25/1, beating Dom Samurai by 1¼ lengths, all out. The following April, he justified favouritism in the 1998 Grand National, staying on well to beat Suny Bay, who was conceding 23lb, by 11 lengths.

Nigel Twiston-Davies also won the Welsh National and the Grand National with Bindaree, although he won at Aintree in 2002, the year before he won at Chepstow. The other horse to win both races was Silver Birch, who won at Chepstow in 2004, when trained by Paul Nicholls, and at Aintree three years later, when trained by Gordon Elliott.

 

Which Horses Will Win the Biggest Races in 2024?

Which Horses Will Win the Biggest Races in 2024? Horse racing fans have plenty to look forward to in 2024, with the upcoming calendar packed with a ton of top-class action taking place across the world.

Next year undoubtedly looks exciting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with top trainer Aidan O’Brien set to unleash a horse that looks to be a potential superstar.

Australian horse racing fans also have a stellar year lined up, with the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in November the undoubted highlight.

Picking the potential winners of races this far in advance is no easy task, so punters would be well advised to ensure they keep a close eye on respected tipping sites.

When it comes to reliable information, whether you are looking for horse racing tips tomorrow or a little further down the line, OnlyRacing.com.au has all the bases covered.

With that mind, we take a closer look at two horses we believe will deliver sizeable winning returns to punters when they contest the biggest races in 2024.

City of Troy – Epsom Derby

O’Brien spoke in glowing terms about City of Troy after the horse produced a devasting performance to turn the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse into a procession last month.

The son of Justify is now odds-on with some betting firms to win next year’s 2000 Guineas at the same venue, while he is priced at 3.50 to win the Epsom Derby.

O’Brien says that City of Troy is ‘the best two-year-old he had ever trained’ – high praise given the number of quality performers he has previously had in his stable.

Timeform handicapper Simon Baker gave the horse a rating of 125p after that victory, which places him in the same bracket as a previous superstar of the sport.

“City of Troy’s Dewhurst win was the best performance in the race since Frankel, and while we could wait a lifetime and not see anything in that league again, there can be no doubt that City of Troy is a tremendous prospect in his own right,” Baker said.

“Not all recent high-achieving Dewhurst winners have advanced their form markedly at three, but everything about City of Troy, from his powerful physique to his strong-galloping style, suggests he can go on improving, which makes him just about the most exciting horse around for 2024.”

Balance Play – Melbourne Cup

The recent Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale at Newmarket may well have produced an early pointer for a potential winner of the 2024 Melbourne Cup.

Balance Play was bought by McKeever Bloodstock, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott for AU$1.155 million and has been touted as an ideal candidate for ‘the race that stops the nation’.

The horse was rated 101 going into the session, having won three of his six starts in high-class handicaps during his three-year-old campaign.

Balance Play is from the same family as Bauer, who famously missed out on winning the 2008 Melbourne Cup by a nose for trainer Luca Cumani.

Claudia Miller, bloodstock manager for Tulloch Lodge, says she was under ‘strict instructions’ not to leave the sale without the horse and was delighted when the hammer came down.

“He is a lovely three-year-old – lightly raced, very consistent and effective on all going,” Miller said. “He is just the exact profile of the horse we look for at this sale. We are very excited to get him.”

Which horse was Ruby Walsh’s first winner on British soil?

Rupert ‘Ruby’ Walsh announced his retirement, with immediate effect, after winning the Punchestown Gold Cup on Kemboy, trained by Willie Mullins, on May 1, 2019. He thus brought to an end a riding career that began at Leopardstown on May 17, 1995 – three days after his sixteenth birthday – and yielded 2,767 winners in Britain and Ireland combined. Walsh remains the third most successful National Hunt jockey in history, behind only Sir Anthony McCoy and Richard Johnson.

Born in Kill, Co. Kildare, Walsh was champion jump jockey in his native land on twelve occasions between 1998/99 and 2016/17 but, as far as a British audience is concerned, was best known for his exploits at the Cheltenham Festival. Thanks to fruitful associations with Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls – multiple champion trainers on their respective sides of the Irish Sea – Walsh rode a record 59 winners at the March showpiece and won the leading jockjey award eleven times between 2004 and 2017.

Walsh rode his first winner in Britain, Major Jamie, trained by Arthur Moore, in the William Hill Hurdle at Sandown Park on December 6, 1997, while still riding as ‘Mr. R. Walsh’. Indeed, he did not turn professional until the 1998/1999 season, by which time he had already ridden his first Cheltenham Festival winner, Alexander Banquet, trained by Mullins, in what is now the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, in March, 1998.

 

 

 

How many racecourses are there in Wales?

The short answer is three. Chepstow Racecourse, home of the most valuable race run in Wales, the Coral Welsh National, is probably the best known of the trio. Situated in Monmouthshire, South East Wales, close to the border with England, the dual purpose course consists of a left-handed, undulating oval, 1 mile 7 furlongs around, plus a straight mile course, which joins the round course at the top of the home straight. The National Hunt course features 11 fairly stiff fences, or seven flights of hurdles, per circuit.

Not to be confused with Bangor, the cathedral city in Gwynedd, North West Wales, Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse is situated to the south-west of the village of the same name near Wrexham, North East Wales. Established in 1859, Bangor-on-Dee is a National Hunt course, consisting of a left-handed, flat circuit, 1 mile 4 furlongs in extent, with sharp bend and six hurdles, or nine fences, per circuit. The course has the distinction of being the only one in Britain without a grandstand; viewing takes place from a sloping grass bank, which surrounds the racing surface.

Ffos Las Racecourse, situated near the former mining village of Trimsaran in Carmathenshire, West Wales, was built on the site of what was, at one time, the largest open cast mine in Europe. The dual purpose course, which opened, to much fanfare, in 2009, is similar to Bangor-on-Dee insofar that it consists of a left-handed, flat oval, approximately 1 mile 4 furlongs around, but is essentially galloping in character, with wide, easy bends.

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