Welsh aces enjoy success across Britain

FFOS Las’s penultimate fixture of 2021 is today (Wednesday) and there are seven races from 12.20pm.

Gates open at 10.20am and tickets in advance are £15. On the day it is £17 for a ticket. Our Christmas Jumper Race Day is on Thursday, December 16.

Between them Welsh owners, trainers and jockeys clocked up nine winners on Saturday.

However, one that missed out was the Evan Williams-trained Coole Cody, who made a bold bid to win the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham for the second year in a row.

He was still in front at the second-last fence, where he made his only error and came down.

Earlier that afternoon, Christian Williams trained the 9-4 winner of the threemile chase for amateur riders, Strictlyadancer. He’d won over course and distance in October. It was the first time Ben Bromley had ridden for the yard.

Not many horses win two Cheltenham handicaps within the space of a month.

Ben Jones rode a treble at Uttoxeter, including two for Philip Hobbs. He is benefiting from his association with the resurgent Hobbs stable and Jones completed his redletter day by making most of the running on Akkapenko for Dai Burchell, who has had quite a few winners at the track over the years.

The Dan Skelton yard employed Lorcan Williams to ride four horses at Wetherby. Lakota Warrior, part-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, made it worthwhile by taking the two-mile hurdle.

There was all-weather racing on the flat and at Lingfield the Welsh-owned Coronation Cup winner Pyledriver was entitled to outclass his opponents in the Churchill Stakes. It was over a mile and a quarter, a distance short of his best, and he hung on to win by half a length. He will go for a big prize in Hong Kong next.

David Probert had a welcome double earlier on the card. The first winner, Sea Grey, is trained by Andrew Balding. He won a 10-furlong race going away and connections now have the dilemma of whether to continue on the all-weather or wait for the turf to resume.

An hour later Valentinka won even more easily.

Wales’s magnificent nine was sealed at Wolverhampton when Ron Harris’s Glamorous Force won for the second time in a month.