Nicholls takes Chepstow honours – now eyes turn to Ffos Las’ big day
ELEVEN-TIME champion trainer Paul Nicholls was the star of the show at Chepstow’s two-day Unibet Jump Season Opener with eight winners out of the 16 races run.
One of many impressive successes came when McFabulous won the Grade 2 Unibet Persian War Novices’ Hurdle very easily under jockey Harry Cobden. The trainer said the horse’s long-term target is the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
There was a memorable Welsh win in the John Ayres Memorial Handicap Chase when Pink Eyed Pedro took the prize for trainer David Brace and his grandson jockey Connor. Pink
Eyed Pedro won the prestigious hunter chase, the Dunraven Bowl at Chepstow in 2019, sponsored by the Brace family.
A number of the winners look destined for much better things including Thyme White, Soaring Glory, Hell Red, Grand Sancy, Tea Clipper and Knappers Hill.
This Sunday, at Ffos Las, it’s the richest race of the season, the £40,000 Welsh Champion Hurdle.
Over the years at Ffos Las the two mile contest has been won by some top class horses including Oscar Whisky, The New One and in 2018 the Welsh trained Silver Streak.
The race was transferred to Ffos
Las in 2011 having been one of the feature races at Chepstow for many years.
Winners at Chepstow include some of the most iconic names in the sport – Sea Pigeon, Pollardstown, Night Nurse, Comedy Of Errors, Bula, Lanzarote, Monksfield and Browne’s Gazette.
Also on the card is the Norton’s Coin Cup Novices’ Chase run in memory of the Carmarthenshire trained 100-1 winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1990. This race has attracted a high-quality entry including Fiddlerontheroof, Champagne Well, Emitom, Fusil Raffles and Next Destination.