At the first fence Frantic Tan was the first to the fence and took a look at it and jumped it a little untidily but safely next at the fence was Murt's Man, he jumped the fence well next was Royal Tommy, and Chives, they were followed by the rest of the field who all jumped it safely. The horses got away from the fence well and it was on to the second. The second fence in the Welsh National is the first open ditch. All horses jumped the ditch well, but Chives jumps it well if a little slowly and Supreme Glory collides with his backside on landing. This is because the field is now beginning to bunch up a little. The third fence in the back straight, is a normal fence and all horses at the front of the field jumped it well, but it is Take Control now who is squeezed for a little room and he and Mini Sensation collide with Mini sensation being the meat in the sandwich between him and The Bunny Boiler, all who are at the back of the filed. The pace of the race was sensible, not too fast for the going but also not too slow so that horses made silly mistakes. The fourth fence was the old water jump and is a very fair fence now, The leader is still Frantic Tan by a length, but in behind the horses are getting more bunched up. Murt's Man and Chives jump the fence in unison sharing second place, Supreme Glory, and Gunner Welburn jump the fence together in fourth and fifth with Royal Tommy less than half a length behind them and frosty Canyon is now making up some ground. All the horses jump the fence well but Take control was a little slow at it, he is now the back marker. The Fifth fence is just on the brow of the downhill before the horses start to go downhill to the next. All Horses jump the fence without problems The horses now start to go down hill and this ensures that the field starts to get a bit more strung out. The sixth fence is the last in the back and Frantic Tan gives the fence plenty of room as he clears the fence really well, Murt's Man and Gunner Welburn are a length behind and a half a length behind is Chives followed by the rest of the field, Last at this point but going fine is the top weight Take Control. There is a long run now to the first in the straight. The horses go downhill to the far end of the course and start the long winding sweep around.
The field take the long bend well and start to come into the straight for the first time. As the field rounds the corner Carl Llewellyn keep the leader Frantic tan tight to the bend, this is not something the other jockey do and he steals another length from the field. At the first in the home straight Frantic Tan is the first to jump. And jumps the fence well a length in front of Murt's Man who jumps it well the field is now jumping the fence, but as Royal Tommy gets to the fence he runs a little to his right, this has a knock on effect and Gunner Welburn has to also jump to the right and gets the fence wrong. He brushes right-handed through the top of the fence and make the error look worse that it was. A couple of horses at the back jump the fence a little wearily. The second in the home straight is the eighth fence and it is another open ditch. Murt's Man has almost caught up with Frantic Tan who now jumps the fence a half a length in front of Murt's Man. The leaders jump the fence well but back in the field It's Himself, jumps the fence and for some reason twists in the air. When he lands the other side of the fence his front legs are twisted to his left, this gives him no chance of staying on his feet and he falls, The bunny Boiler who is right behind him get hampered. The next fence is a plain fence and is jumped uphill. The are no problems at this fence and all horses jump the fence well. The field is now again beginning to be starched. At the next the leaders all jump the fence well, Frosty Canyon was a little untidy at the fence but all jump it safely and it's on to the next. At the 11th Fence that will be the last on the next circuit The Quads is now starting to get reminders from his jockey and the horses all jump the fence well.
As the horses go past the judge and race around the bent and up the hill it can be seen the ground is now having an effect. The horses have run two miles with almost two more to go and the bottomless ground is starting to tell. By the time the horses approach the first in the back (the 12th fence) Frantic tan is still just in the lead with Gunner Welburn now only a half a length behind Murt's Man and Chives are not far behind. The rest of the field jump the fence safely and it's on to the next. At the 13th fence, this is the third of the ditches, both Frantic tan and Gunner Welburn Jump the fence together but gunner Welburn just gets away a little quicker. The rest of the field jump the fence but The Quads jumps slowly and looks to be very tiered now. At the next plain fence the 14th all horses jump it safely and Gunner Welburn jumps to the front of the field and looks to be jumping as good as any. Gunner Welburn is now two lengths in front from Frantic Tan in second and as Gunner Welburn gets to the 15th fence he jumps it very well. In behind there are some tiered horses and as all jump the fence safely there are two at the back Last years winner Supreme Glory and The Quads that are very slow and look very tired. There are now two more fences in the back an all the field is now getting strung out as the leaders run on to the next. At the 16th fence Gunner Welburn is going very sweetly and extends his lead to 2 lengths, in joint seconds are Frantic Tan and Murt's Man. Two lengths back is Frosty Canyon and Chives both are going well. Two lengths behind them is Mini Sensation who is getting a little closer with the others jumping the fence at least two more length behind them. As the field approach the last in the back Gunner Welburn is a length in front and jumps it like a buck. Murt's man jumps it well next but Frantic Tan get too close and makes a mistake, His jockey Carl Llewellyn gets catapulted up into the air but makes a great recovery to stay in the plate but this error has taken a lot out of the horse and he starts to fall behind. The rest of the field jump the fence but a lot of horses are looking very tired now. The field are again at the bottom end of the course and have a long sweeping run to the straight.
At the first in the straight the 18th fence Gunner Welburn jumps it very well and still looks to be going sweetly, Murt's Man and frosty Canyon just a half a length behind. Mini Sensation is next and Chives who has been given a great ride is looking as fresh as anything running. The rest of the field jump the fence but a few of the back markers jump the fence very tired and can on no more, Rugged river, Ackzo and Take Control are pulled up. With 4 fences left to jump only 10 are left in the race and only five look to be with a real chance. We are now at the next last open ditch Gunner Welburn is still looking good in front, Frosty Canyon is also going very well Third is Mini Sensation who is still there and fourth is Chives who is going very well, Fifth and last of the contenders now is Murt's Man but he is now coming under pressure to stay with the first four. Everything else is now struggling. And Take Control falls at the back of the field. Three left to jump now and as the leaders approach the fence The Bunny Boiler is being pulled up. At the fence Gunner Welburn is asked for a big one and gives a great jump, Frosty Canyon is now very close up and also gives a great jump. Two lengths back Mini Sensation jumps the fence well and Chives is going really well upsides him. Murt's Man is a length behind these but is staring to fall behind however these five are well ahead of the rest of the field. Native Buck is pulled up along with Bounce Back. The second last is next and there are only seven of the 17 starters left. As the horses approach the fence Gunner Welburn and The Frosty Canyon come under pressure. Mini Sensation is also given reminders in third. Chive a very close fourth is still yet to be asked the question and is absolutely cruising under a very big weight. At the fence Gunner Welburn and Frosty Canyon jump it together with mini Sensation and Chives jumping it together only a half a length back six lengths back and now out of contention is Murt's Man. Over they go and it's on to the last. All the horses are now flat out and are giving their all Mini Sensation is now finding more under the extreme pressure, Gunner Welburn has now given his all but under pressure is trying to find more but he has never been this far before and this bottomless ground is taking it's toll, Frosty Canyon is Trying his best but again the ground and his 11st 7lbs is just proving too much, Chives is running on extremely well and is trying to shake off his welter burden of 11st 12lbs He is starting to feel the ground and weight but will just not give up and gets into second position. At the last Mini Sensation is just a half a length in front Chives Jumps it very bravely in second but land in a bit of a heap and is unable to get away from the fence as well as the leader. Gunner Welburn jumps the fence well but simply has no more to give on the desperate ground. Frosty Canyon jumps very tired in fourth place but is tying to stay on again. Mini Sensation is now getting into his stride as is getting away from is field, The 22 lbs between him and his nearest rival is now starting to make the difference as he powers away from the second horse.
Murt's Man who was up with the leaders for a long way finishes 5th. Next is the long time Leader Frantic Tan and a distance behind is the last to finish Royal Tommy. |
