Top trainer will be sponsor of £45k Welsh hurdle race event
Good news for Welsh racing is that David Brace, of the Dunraven Stud, Pyle, near Bridgend, a leading point-to-point owner/trainer who is also chairman of the Dunraven Group, has announced that his company is the new sponsor of the £45,000 Welsh Champion Hurdle, to be held at Ffos Las Racecourse on October 20.
The Welsh Champion Hurdle, like the Welsh Grand National, was first staged at Cardiff’s Ely Racecourse before moving to Newport’s Caerleon Racecourse and then on to Chepstow under a new title – the Welsh Grand Annual Handicap Hurdle.
It became the Welsh Champion Hurdle again in 1969, when it was won by the legendary three-times Cheltenham Champion Hurdle winner Persian War, trained by Colin Davies.
First past the post the following year in 1970 was Ken White’s mount Coral Diver, but Frozen Alive was awarded the race after Stan Mellor had objected that Frozen Alive had been crossed on the run-in.
For the next 10 years or so, the race was dominated by winners of the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle, and Fred Winter’s Bula – who had denied Persian War a four-timer at Cheltenham – won under Paul Kelleway in 1971.
The strapping Fred Rimell-trained Comedy Of Errors won in 1973 and Fred Winter’s Lanzarote won in 1975.
Mick Easterby’s Night Nurse was the winner in 1976 and 1977, the same two years he had won the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle.
Monksfield, a bargain buy at just 780 guineas, won in 1979 and Sea Pigeon, by the Derby winner Sea Bird, triumphed in the 1980 renewal.
Fast-forward to 1990 and the previous year’s Cheltenham winner, Beach Road, was successful.
The event was no longer a listed race when Martin Pipe’s Potentate brought off a three-timer in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Sea Pigeon, who had won in 1980, had been the oldest winner of the race since it had been staged at Chepstow. However, 20 years later in 2000, Mister Morose, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and partnered by fellow Welshman Carl Llewellyn, became the second 10-year-old to land the prize.
The last time the race was held at Chepstow was in 2002, when the French-bred Vol Solitaire beat Copeland by a neck.
■ Meanwhile, Simon Rowlands, 36, from Bargoed, has been appointed the new general manager at Ffos Las Racecourse.
Simon is currently the catering manager at Chepstow Racecourse and he will head up a management team focused on increasing attendances, hospitality, on-course branding and non-racing events such as concerts and conferences at the west Wales venue.
He said: “I am delighted to be responsible for driving this exciting business forward. There are 19 race meetings a year at Ffos Las, as well as plenty of opportunities for other events.’’
He added: “We will also be working closely with Chepstow to encourage more people in Wales to come horse-racing.’’
■ The Welsh point-to-point season will have its earliest start ever when the first of the two Curre & Llangibby meetings take place on November 25, which is a Sunday.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the North Hereford fixture will have taken place – weather permitting – at Eaton Farm.
The Carmarthenshire, which will be held for the first time at Ffos Las Racecourse, is also on a Sunday – December 9.
Welsh enthusiasts will then have to wait until the second of the two Curre & Llangibby fixtures on February 17, 2019, another Sunday meeting. ■ Send your racing news and views to Brian Lee by emailing brianlee4@virginmedia.com or by phoning 029 2073 6438.