 
The build up to the Coral Eurobet Welsh National this year as in past years started with the Chepstow 1st December meeting when the two principle races on the card are the Jack Brown Bookmakers Chase and the Rehearsal Chase. The winner of the Welsh National often comes from these races and this year a lot of the runners including the winner of the Rehearsal chase, See More Business where not running. However the winner of the Jack Brown Chase, Gunner Welburn was running in the race and he also was given a good racing weight and was also due to start favourite for the race. The main talking point in the few days before the main race was the weather. The Welsh National has been off three times in the last 10 years, the race was run at Newbury in 1994 and the race was cancelled in 1995 and 1996 so with the appalling weather leading up to the race we were worried that another cancellation may have been on the cards.. The rain did not stop at Chepstow on the day before the big race was due to be run and an inspection was called for at 8am on the day to see if racing could go ahead. On the morning of the race both Wetherby and Leopardstown were also under threat and as the news that both those were off came through it was with great relief that the word came that Chepstow was on and the ground would be heavy. On the way to the course I was very happy to see the sun come out and it looked as if the weather was going to keep dry after all, with the temperature in the teens centigrade it looked like a good prospect of great winter racing day. I always arrive at the course early and this year was no exception, cars were being lead onto the centre of the course really early, however this year, there was a bumper crowd expected and people were still streaming in after the running of the second race. There are still a lot of improvements going on at the course and this currently affects the members area which is undergoing a complete re-fit and extension. As part of this there was a new piece of members stand that was in use today that was very welcome. There were some good back up races on the card today and we saw a very good winner in the first race with the very impressive Bolt Action. The horses finished the first two races exhausted and it was clear that the ground was very heavy.
As the race approached I was sad to hear that there was to be a non-runner and that was one of my Chepstow favourites Ambleside, however this still left 16 runners and each way punters would still be paid on the first four. As the horses were brought into the parade ring, it was the betting ring where the real buzz was, one of the horses that was owned by the businessman and well known professional gambler J.P.Macmanus had a horse running today, and the odds on his horse Mini Sensation where being taken and the 18/1 that was available very early in the day was now down to 12/1. The 12/1 did not last long and as the jockeys were being given the leg up the price had plummeted to 8/1. The horses came out onto the course and again the sun came out and as they paraded in front of the stands they all looked very good indeed. The horses went p to look at a fence but were soon back at the start and were milling around. Is was not long before the starter called them in and they quickly formed a line and were off at the first time of asking. |
