  
The weather leading up to Christmas this year was pretty good but we did suffer some poor weather and snow at Christmas but there was not even an inspection at Chepstow and the Welsh National was not in any danger despite some courses calling off their racing. The going this year was officially good/soft with soft in places and this is unusual for Chepstow as the ground is rarely better than soft and is often bottomless at this time of year, the ground definitely seemed soft or worse as the racing went on. The recommendations were to arrive early as there was going to be a big crowd. The course is only a short distance from the M4 but on Welsh National day it can be difficult to get to the course. To encourage people to arrive early this year Chepstow racecourse was offering 10 free members badges for 2002 and there would be a draw of everyone who had entered the course by 11am. I arrived at the course at about 10:30 and had no problems getting to the course or into the course but a lot of people who did not arrive early had to wait to get in, and inevitably some missed the early races. Although the day before the race we had overnight snow there was bright sunshine for most of the day, but on the race day it was overcast for most of the day with just a few very light showers. 
There have been significant changes to Chepstow racecourse this year and one of them has been that the parade ring has been moved from the back of the stands to the front of the stands. There was some concern from race goers on my previous visits to the course that the new parade ring was not big enough and it was to be put to the test today as it was to be used for the first time.
The biggest field of the day was 16, as the Welsh National did not attract the usual large amount of runners. The parade ring did hold up for these races but the parade ring does still look a little too small. The worst thing however from my point of view is that as the parade ring is now alongside the track the result of this is that viewers to the ring can now only view from one side, this immediately cuts of 50% of the viewing. Add to this the entrances to the parade ring viewing areas are small and people were gathering close to these entrances and not moving around the ring and that was also making it very difficult for anybody else to get to the viewing area. To compound the problem further the BBC have now got an area close to the parade ring and this also blocks the viewing, this is worse than is seems as the presenters then stand in the way of people who wish to see, and all the time they have their BACKS to the ring. This is a very strange situation, which needs addressing very soon.
The other changes that were on show were the saddling boxes and the pre-parade ring both of which are new. The old saddling boxes were difficult as you were viewing the horses uphill, this has now changed and the viewing for the saddling boxes is now down and although a little further away is very good.
However the pre parade ring is very poor, The ring is down to the left of the saddling boxes and you can't get anywhere near the horses. The old pre-parade ring was very well visited and you could view from all angles now with the new ring it is impossible to get close and the viewing is very difficult.
The new weighing room is not yet built and trainers have to walk from the temporary weighing room then go down the old walkway and then back up to the saddling boxes and although this is only temporary it is a long way and if we have w meeting where it rains they will be very unhappy at this. I did overhear one trainer ask to another " are we supposed to jump the fence to get to the saddling boxes? ".
The organisation on the day also could have been better with trainers not knowing where to go and also for the first race the jockeys took the wrong route to the parade ring and walked through members to get there (which is actually a shorter route!).
I was surprised to see this disorganisation as at the last meeting one of the winners failed to get to the new winners enclosure (which is attached to the parade ring) for about 10 minutes after the race was finished as he was led to the unplaced horses unsaddling area.
One last thing that was very disappointing for me and also some others who where on the new members lawn. When the Welsh National used to start there is always a parade and this has always been organised very well, with the horses going to the bottom bend to be sorted out and then led up in race card order past all the stands. This did not happen this year and the horses were turning around in front of the member's lawn and were then asked to go onto the course between the lawn and the parade ring. This meant that viewers on the lawn did not get a full parade but just saw the horses going onto the course and then watched the backsides parading. This was a very poor show can be forgiven this year as this was the first year of the new alterations but must be corrected for next year, and the horses must be lead onto the course further down the track.
The overall effect of the changes are that you seem more dispatched from the horses than you used to be and this is a real shame as Chepstow used to allow you to feel more a part of the day.
Despite all of this the field for the Welsh National was a good one this year and we all waited to see what would happen. Could last year's winner Jock's Cross win for the second time? Would Edmond return to the form of two years ago and win again? Would A.P.McCoy and his drought of winners? Would Moral support finally achieve his potential? But I'm sure we were ALL thinking and hoping that after his fall at the course three weeks ago, that See More Business would put in a clear round.
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