Horses in the Frame
The Winner
Mini Sensation.
The 2002 Coral Eurobet Welsh National may go done in history as the day J.P. did the bookies again.
J.P.McManus is the businessman and professional gambler who is also is the owner of Mini Sensation who won the race today.
This horse who does have form over extreme distances and on soft ground was very well supported in the betting ring today and was cut from 18/1 early in the day to 8/1 at the off.
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His race today was a much improved performance over his last run at Wetherby where he finished a distant last of four to Gun n'Roses over 2m 4f.
Mini Sensation is very much an inconsistent sort who has real talent. If you consider his previous second in the Midlands National last March at Uttoxeter then it can be seen that he was probably entitled to a good performance today running with such a competitive weight. His jumping today was very good and when others were getting tired and let their jumping go, he was still jumping out of the bottomless ground well.
Today however even if you take into account that he was getting 22lbs from the second, he was going away from the field after the last fence and won with merit.
He is a winner of 3 of his 9 chases to date and as he is only 9 he will win more races in the future but will be hard to follow given his inconsistency.
Jonjo O'Neill
Jonjo O'Neill is on of the best known trainers in the country.
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This mainly comes from the fact that he was one of the best jockeys of his time. He has won most of the big jump races in this country including one of the most memorable wins in the 1986 Gold Cup at Cheltenham when he rode the great Dawn Run.
He also came second in the Welsh National in 1979 on Current Gold, but now 23 years later he has won the race.
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His training career got off to a reasonable start but since his recent move to the Jackdaws Castle training establishment it has gone from strength to strength. This season he has now won more than 600,000 pounds in prize money.
He was delighted with Mini Sensations win but did ay that the horse has had more bad days than good, but today he was very good and his jumping was better than he had seen before.
Tony Dobbin.
Tony Dobbin is one of this country's top jockeys.
He was born in Ireland and came over to the mainland to ride as an apprentice with Jonjo O'Neil. After serving his apprenticeship with him he has gone on from strength to strength. Most of his riding is done in the north as he is first jockey to Nicky Richards and is also used extensively by the top Scottish trainer Lenny Lungo.
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He has won many good races including one of the most famous running of The Grand National when the race had to be abandoned because of a bomb scare on the Saturday and was then run on the Monday where he was victorious on Lord Gyllene.
Second Place
Chives
Chives certainly put up a very good performance today and under the burden of weight he had to carry you could say it was the best performance of the day.
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One of the regular jockeys who rides at Chepstow Carl Llewellyn said today that it was the softest ground he had ever ridden on.
Chives really is one of the most genuine and consistent horses running today. He is the epitome of what a good national hunt horse should be. He gives his all despite sometimes having everything against him. He has now been placed in 10 of his 12 starts, this is especially impressive as he runs in good quality races.
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He is a horse that loves very soft ground and should not be ignored in any race where he gets this ground and he comes from one of the best stables in the country and they will never run him in conditions where he could not give his best.
A really fine steeplechaser who may well win a very big race in the next few years. Look for him in the Gold Cup and also in other The Grand Nationals.
Henrietta Knight.
Henrietta Knight is one of the most respected national hunt trainers in the country today.
She is also very successful with her horses and always places them in races where the horse has the conditions to win.
When seen on TV and when interviewed her idiosyncrasy of not watching her horses run live is always mentioned as she loves her horses so much that she can always be seen hiding out of sight until her horses have finished the race.
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He biggest success in racing came last year where her best horse Best Mate won the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Henrietta comes across as one of the nicest persons in racing and therefore everyone in racing enjoys her success.
Richard Guest.
Richard Guest has the best of both worlds in the racing game.
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He is a successful trainer and also successful jockey.
He trains horses I the Norman Mason yard and also rides for then stable on occasions.
He gave the horse a peach of a ride realising that the horse would need to be looked after if he was to get this marathon trip.
He produced the horse at the right time and while the others were pushing their horses he was holding his together.
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He won the Grand National in 2001 in ground that was as bad as it was today, on that day he nursed the winner Red Marauder around the course and put him in contention at the right time and that was what he did so masterfully again today. At the last he had a very good chance but the horse being very tiered and carrying so much weight made a mistake and that may have cost him the race, it was nobody's fault it was just one of those things that happens. One thing for sure without the mistake he would have been closer and that was down to Richards's horsemanship as well as the horses courage and attitude.
Third Place
Gunner Welburn.
Gunner Welburn put up a very good performance today but just didn't quite get home in the bottomless ground.
He ran well and was in contention at the right point in the race and gave his all but was going into unknown territory as he had never run this far in a race before.
Gunner Welburn is a recruit from the point-to-point field and was very good.
Since becoming a runner under rules he has done very well for himself in hunter chases and his biggest success came in the 2001 Foxhunters Chase at Aintree, which is run over the Grand National fences.
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He has good heart and also a very good attitude to racing and will win more races I'm sure. He acts on ground better than this and if he gets into the Grand National this year and the ground is good to soft then he should get the trip and could be a live contender.
I.Balding
Ian Balding is one our out top trainers in both codes.
His biggest success was when winning the Epsom Derby.
He is retiring from racehorse training this at the end of this year and is handing over his training establishment to his son.
Ian is the father of the television personality and the BBC racing front person Clare Balding.
B.Fenton.
Barry Fenton is a very good jockey who knows what it takes to win big races. He is a previous winner of The Welsh national and won the race in 1998 on Kendal Cavalier. He has also won races at the big meetings around the country including at The Cheltenham Festival.
Fourth Place
Frosty Canyon
Frosty Canyon ran a good race today and was another who was carrying a big weight.
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He ran his heart out and between the second last and the last was going as well as any, but the ground and weight got the better of him in the end but he did run on to be a very creditable fourth.
At nine going on ten this could be his best year and with this performance under his belt he could be up for more wins to add to this very fine performance.
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He is another who gives his best more often than not and has only been out of the first 4 once in his last 14 runs.
P.Webber
P.Webber is a trainer in the top twenty trainers in the national hunt field. He has had many successes from his training establishment in Banbury.
This trainer is another who runs horses on the flat and last season had prize money in excess of 90,000 pounds but this was insignificant when judged by his national hunt that was more than 250,000 pounds.
T.Doyle.
Tom Doyle is a good jockey who manages to win with about 10% of his rides. He rides most successfully for the R.Lee Stable.
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