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1 month ago
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Preamble
Hello from Chepstow racecourse in South Wales, where a boisterous crowd started to pour through the gates at 10am – and the bar staff started pouring the first half-price Happy Hour drinks at 10.01am.
The Welsh Grand National is the biggest day at the races all year in these parts, and the feature event has seen many mighty performances down the decades. I was lucky enough to be here to see Carvill’s Hill stroll home under top weight of 11st 10lb in 1991, a feat that was matched by Native River, a subsequent Gold Cup winner, nine years ago, and those are just two of the doughty warriors on the Welsh National’s roll of honour.
The top weight this year is Intense Raffles, with Bryony Frost making a flying visit from her new home in France to take the ride, but he is a big outsider at around 40-1 after a couple of disappointing runs so far this season.
More realistic contenders include Jubilee Express and Collectors Item, the 1-2 in the Welsh Grand National Trial here in early December, and Joe Tizzard’s Rock My Way, who bids to be the third Tizzard-trained winner after two successes for his dad, Colin. O’Connell, Haiti Couleurs and the ever-popular Mr Vango, from Sara Bradstock’s tiny yard near Letcombe Bassett, are also very much in the mix for the feature, and there is plenty for the capacity crowd to enjoy in the run-up too, with five races on the card including the Finale Junior Hurdle, a Grade Two, at 1.40pm.
There is much to look forward to at Kempton too on the second day of the King George meeting, including the Wayward Lad Novice Chase at 1.55pm, which has been won by top-notchers including Sir Gino, Shishkin, Edwardstone and Altior in the fairly recent past. Nothing, though, is likely to come close to yesterday’s unforgettable running of the King George, when the first three home were separated by a nose and the same.
Picks for today’s ITV card, which kicks off with the 1.20pm at Kempton, are here, and you can, as always, keep on top of all the action on the Guardian’s live racing blog as the latest instalment of the festive programme unfolds.
