Rees double the highlight on the track

IT’S been a good seven days for Welsh racing, on and off the track.

Last Saturday a crowd of just under 8,000 people packed into Ffos Las to see Madness play live after racing.

It was the second largest attendance at the course since it opened in 2009, while the band play at Chepstow Racecourse on Saturday, June 8.

On the track itself, Pembrokeshire trainer David Rees had a fantastic evening with two winners.

Buck Bravo took the opening event under Ffos Las ambassador Sean Bowen and then 10-year-old Gone Platinum won the penultimate race for jockey Lorcan Williams.

Gone Platinum has run nine times since January and has won on four occasions and been second three times, a very consistent horse.

There was an unusual statistic in the penultimate race as every horse was trained by a Welsh trainer and six out of the seven riders were Welsh.

The last race of the evening was won by the promising Jac Brown, trained by Carmarthenshire-based Debra Hamer.

It was a slowly-run bumper and there were plenty in with a chance turning into the home straight, but Brown looked to be travelling better than his rivals and in the end he won impressively.

The five-year-old had shown promise last time out at Chepstow when finishing fourth.

David Rees’s weekend continued in great form when Gardiners Hill won at Uttoxeter on Sunday with James Bowen in the saddle.

The next meeting at Ffos Las is the Wales Air Ambulance Charity Night on Thursday, June 6. This is a charity race night for a great local cause.

The following fixture is on Thursday, June 20, an evening meeting when the course celebrates its 10th anniversary. Tickets are £10 in advance.

There is live music during and after racing from the Valli Boys and a great Tom Jones tribute.

For information see the website or ring the racecourse office on 01554 811092.