A A A The Coral Welsh National at Chepstow Racecourse

The Race Preview

Tuesday the 28th of December will see the last Running this Millennium of The Welsh National and The weather again will play a big part in the day. It has been wet in this part of the country for some time now and the ground is drenched and will ride heavy.
There is a frost expected on the night before so the ground will not dry out at all.
So once again the soft ground horses will have an advantage.

Here the list of runners and also the preview of their form.

Earth Summit 11:11:10

Earth summit is a very high class long distance chaser who in the past has won the Scottish National and The Grand National and also has won the 1997 Welsh National. He excels in the mud and also at extreme distances which he will get again in this years race, Indeed he has been allotted the same weight as last year. In Last years race he ran well enough until making a bad mistake at the 14th and from then on he never recovered and was pulled up 3 from home. His season after that did not go so well and only finished 7th and 8th in his two only other starts but the figures don't do him justice because he would have been an awful lot closer if he had now been hampered at Bechers on the second circuit when the race was just getting strong. He is not the type of horse to win many races in a year but likes the big occasion so maybe he could win this year but he will be 12 on January 1st so you can't argue that he has any improvement but if you bet on him you have to take a view that he does not need to improve. There would be a big cheer if he wins again this year.
Earth Summit is Trained be Nigel Twiston Davies

Young Kenny 8:11:8

Young Kenny again is a classy long distance chaser. This 8 yr old Gelding won 4 of his 9 runs last year including the Greenalls Midlands National last year before going on to win the Scottish National in April. He acts any ground from good to heavy and definitely prefers give in the ground . He has won on this course before that was back in 1997 when he picked up a good G2 hurdle race.
Young Kenny is Trained by P.Beaumont.

Fiddling the Facts 7:11:5

Fiddling the Facts is a 7 yr old Mare who has shown some ability in the past when winning a group 1 chase at Kempton two years ago Last year was disappointing as she did not get her head in front but had two 2nds and a 3rd with one of the second coming in this race. If any horse deserves a big race win it's Fiddling the Facts she has so many times been in the frame in big races. She Is likely to be the favourite for the race and probably that is right although Kendal Caviller won well last year Fiddling the Facts made at least 3 mistakes and although all the horses finished tired she was cutting down the distance between her and the winner from the last and only finished 1/2 length behind the winner and may well have won but for the mistakes including the one at the last. There is a lot going for this horse ( Including the going she must have ) but there are perhaps two worries one is she has to carry nearly a stone more weight and also she has never won a handicap.
Fiddling the Facts is Trained by N. Henderson.

Kendal Caviller 9:10:11

Kendal Cavalier is a 9 yr old grey gelding. And is the reigning Champion coming back to defend his title. He is a long distance out and out stayer who must have soft or heavy ground to show his best, he got both last year and will get the same conditions as last year although he will be caring 11 lbs more than last year. He only won one race last year and that was this event. He finished a very long way behind in The Grand National where he finished 7th but he was another who was badly hampered on the second circuit and had no time to recover. He has changed yards again this year but has not run up to his potential for his new trainer yet. ( G.B.Balding trained this horse earlier in his career ) All the factors that saw him win last year are here again and he may well go and win the race for the second time.
Kendal Cavalier is trained byG.B.Balding .

Esprit De Cotte 7:10:11

This French bred 7 yr old Bay Gelding won his only race last year a hurdle race at Stratford. This year has gone chasing finished 2nd in a Class C at Worcester but in his two runs since has fell at Aintree and then be pulled up at Cheltenham . He is very unexposed but does not look to have the class to win this . If he got into a place it would be a surprise.
Esprit De Cotte is Trained by N.Henderson

Feels Like Gold 11:10:9

An 11 yr old Bay gelding ran a very creditable 5th in last years national he kept up with the pack and went very well until weakening from about 3 from home this run would give him a chance in this years Welsh National. His career again shows some good wins amongst them and he has a 51% record in his 31 runs of finishing in the frame. he acts on good to soft and seems to love heavy ground having won on it 3 times. he comes here fresh of a win in a good race at Aintree where he had Hollibank Buck, Earth Summit and also Esprit De Cotte behind albeit in a slowish time . Given this and he has the well respected team of Richards and Dobbin so he is not without a chance.
Feels like Gold is Trained by N.G.Richards

Earthmover 8:10:9

This Chestnut Gelding was one of my horses to follow last year and had a very disappointing season all things considered. however he did have to have an operation on a haematoma after his first run when he fell. this season he has shown some of the old form and has won 2 races so far He started the season at Chepstow where he was 5th behind The very smart Ever Blessed and then won two ordinary races one at Cheltenham and one at Chepstow where he had Forest Ivory back in 5th But then in his last race The Henessy he did not jump well and finished 5th with Fiddling The Facts ahead of him in 3rd place. He acts on good to heavy ground and would not be inconvenienced by today's distance. He is a Cheltenham Foxhunters winner and is another who may show some improvement and he would not be a surprise winner from a stable in good form.
Earthmover is Trained by P.Nicholls.

Sparkling Cone 10:10:7

This 10 yr old Grey Gelding seems to have two ways of running Winning and Pulling up ! However it is not that simple he must have soft ground or he will not show anything however you have to say he is inconsistent. Now having told you that he is a much better horse when fresh and the fact that he has not run this year yet is in his favour also he likes Chepstow having won here three times before. His jockey for this run is B.J.Crowley who will also take a 5lb allowance of his back so he would have some chance but is another who would have to show improvement to win and at 10 it is unlikely that he has a lot of improvement in him.
Sparkling Cone is Trained by Miss V.Williams
Hollybank Buck 9:10:5 This 9 yr old Bay Gelding is the Irish entry and is one that I know little about Pre 1999 However in some of his 1999 runs he won the Eider chase over a distance of 4m1f last February. The ground was gd/sft that day, and he had Feels Like Gold Behind him. He was then 3rd behind Young Kenny in the Midlands National and also 2nd Behind him in the Scottish National and also 3rd behind Feels Like Gold in the Becher at Aintree. So long distance chasing is what he does best. I find it difficult to assess his chances here but he does have A.Maguire on board.
Hollybank Buck is Trained by A.Martin.

ANC Express 11:10:3

ANC Express is a 11 yr old Grey Gelding who seems to have been around for ever a good horse who back in March 95 won a B class chase at Chepstow on Heavy going but all his subsequent wins have been at Warwick the last being on March 99 . He is a decent horse but seems to be below this class and is another who would have to improve a lot.
ANC Express is trained by J.King.

Rash Remark 6:10:00

This 6 yr old Chestnut Gelding likes Chepstow having won on both occasions he has run here he is a young horse and has only had 3 chase runs the first was at Chepstow in October But on the other two occasions he has run he has fallen. Realistically he has little chance in this race where he is 1 lb out of the handicap unless he again makes huge improvement however he will like the course and ground and is one of Martin Pipes two runners in a race he has won many times in the recent past.
Rash Remark is Trained by M.Pipe.

Edmond 7:10:0

Although this 7 yr old Bay gelding is 1 lb out of the handicap this horse must have a great chance today. He loves Chepstow and has franked that by his two runs this season both at Chepstow were winning runs. He acts on gd/sof but loves heavy ground. He is a young horse but of his 14 runs to date he has been placed in 12 and has won 8. In the past he has made mistakes in his jumping but seems to have got over that this season. In his last Chepstow race earlier this month he forced the pace front running and won well and that was a 15000 ukp class c Handicap. He should still be improving and his running style will help him.
Edmond is Trained by H.Daly

Flaked Oats 10:10:0

Being 2 lbs out of the handicap would not put me off this 10 yr old Bay Gelding who up until his last run looked as if he was a Fontwell Specialist as all his previous wins had come there. However he comes here today after a terrific improvement when winning the Badger Chase at Wincanton where he had Narthen Lad, Spendid, Rash Remark and a strongly fancied Marlborough beaten ( The last three mentioned fell or were pulled up). But he may have been flattered by that form . He has won on gd and soft but the only other time he tried Heavy was at Chepstow and he was pulled up ( April 99 ). If he ran into a place then that would be a good run from him. In his favour he likes a test of Stamina and will certainly get that here.
Flaked Oats is Trained by P.Nicholls

Forest Ivory 8:10:00

Forest Ivory is a 8 yr old chestnut gelding who will love a long distance race and ran a very creditable 3rd in this race last year. That day he jumped well and his jumping has always been his problem he does make mistakes. To try and remedy this he has been running over hurdles in his two races this season. He has finished 2nd in a group 1 at Kempton so he has real ability but seems to be a below these rivals today. he is again running out of the handicap but only by 2 lbs.
Forest Ivory is trained by A.King

Atavistic 7:10:0

A look at this 7 yr old Bay Geldings for will show you the story 111P-1P he can run very well and was a decent long distance hurdler but he makes mistakes. A young horse who could be anything but has not shown that he can live in this class. However if he put in a clear round anything could happen. He will love the ground and has won twice on it.
Atavistic is trained by P.Hobbs

Country Store 10:10:0

This 10 yr old Chestnut Mare changed connections last year and improved 33 lbs by the end of the season. She is 11 lbs out of the handicap and looks to have an impossible task today However she ran a good race when second to Edmond at this course in November but Edmond was going away from here that day. She will need to improve a great deal to win today but she is trained by M.Pipe so who knows?
Country Store is Trained by M.Pipe.

So there you have it the runners for the big race.

Good Luck I think we may Need it.

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