Curtis on the lookout for future stars

WALES is blessed with some extremely successful racehorse trainers and I went to visit one of them, Rebecca Curtis, last week.

She’s based in the picturesque surroundings of Newport in Pembrokeshire and her CV includes five Cheltenham Festival winners and a host of other big-race successes.

She started riding when she was four, eventually progressing into show jumping, and rode at international level for the Welsh junior team.

Her first job in racing was just 10 miles down the road with Peter Bowen. She then went to America where she worked for trainers Richard Mandela and Dan Hendricks.

On returning to Wales, Rebecca began training on her father’s dairy farm and trained her first winner in 2008 with Mango Catcher at Chepstow. Since then, she’s established herself as a trainer who can deliver on the biggest stages in racing.

Teaforthree won the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2012 and then went agonisingly close to winning that year’s Coral Welsh Grand National with a halflength defeat to Monbeg Dude.

In April 2013 he came third in the Aintree Grand National.

At Fishers Cross, owned by JP Mcmanus, won his first six races in Rebecca’s care including two Grade Ones in 2013, the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.

He was placed in the 2014 Stayers’ Hurdle and was fourth in the same race in 2015.

O’faolain’s Boy won the RSA Chase at Cheltenham in 2014 and Irish Cavalier was another stable star, winning at the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals as well as the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby.

Lisnagar Oscar became the stable’s fifth Cheltenham Festival winner when he won last year’s Stayers’ Hurdle at 50-1. Another significant high-profile winner was Joe Farrell in the 2018 Scottish Grand National.

Rebecca plans to buy a number of new horses this summer so it’ll be interesting to see their progress in the coming years. Hopefully, there are a few stars among them.

Our next meeting at Ffos Las is on Monday (May 10). We are waiting for 100 per cent confirmation that six owners per runner can attend. Please keep an eye on the Owners and Trainers page on our website and our social media feeds.

There is still no news from the Welsh Government about the return of spectators and we are expecting a further update after Thursday’s election.