Lisvane trainer Sam Thomas has two of the 16 declared runners in the Welsh Grand National of 2024 as he bids to win the Premier Handicap Chase once again. This extended 3m 6f test at Chepstow the day after Boxing Day is one of the big betting races of the festive period.
Ex-jockey Thomas is most famous for riding Denman to victory in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup, but has already made plenty of headlines from his South Glamorgan base since joining the training ranks. The 2021 Welsh National winner Iwilldoit, third off topweight last year, runs in this race for the third time in his career.
In-demand conditional jockey Callum Pritchard takes the ride and 7lb off the veteran’s back with his claim. Iwilldoit is back down to the mark he won the 2023 Classic Chase at Warwick off despite more than 12 months off the track. He goes well fresh, then, and the 11-year-old last ran 314 days ago.
Thomas’ other Welsh National hope is the lightly-raced Jubilee Express. He ended last season on a high, making it fourth time lucky over fences when stepped up to 3m 4f at Haydock. Up 4lb with the handicapper for that, seven-year-old Jubilee Express just has a racecourse absence of 282 days to overcome.
All of the leading horse racing betting sites in the UK favour his scope for potential progress over the proven Chepstow performer Iwilldoit. Other trainers besides Thomas are double-handed in the Welsh Grand National of 2024, however, and they include yards with reputations for producing staying chasers.
O’Neill Looking to Go One Better with Iron Bridge
Jonjo O’Neill has two previous wins in the race with Synchronised the latest of those in 2010. While he didn’t exactly go close with Iron Bridge 12 months ago, that Hemmings Racing horse chased home Nassalam as a distant second but now runs from a 6lb lower rating. That can only help the eight-year-old’s cause.
Iron Bridge confirmed Chepstow form with Iwilldoit when third in the Grand National Trial at Haydock and shaped nicely on reappearance when third around Carlisle. Another Chepstow tilt makes a lot ofsense, but the yard also has last year’s ante post favourite Monbeg Genius set to run this time around.
Connections of the 2023 Coral Gold Cup third decided to leave the Welsh National as it came to close off the back of Newbury. Monbeg Genius was out earlier this season when runner-up in a staying handicap on the Betfair Chase card at Haydock in November and filled the runner-up spot behind re-opposing winner Fontaine Collonges.
Venetia Williams is another dual-winning trainer with two possible runners in the Welsh Grand National of 2024 with her nine-year-old mare up 8lb for a 12-length victory over Monbeg Genius. Fontaine Collonges, who won the Rowland Meyrick at Wetherby last Boxing Day, actually has some stamina doubts despite being from the family of Neptune Collonges.
It’s a memorable day for @charliedeutsch2 & @VenetiaWRacing!
Fontaine Collonges wins the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase! 🥇#ITVRacing | @haydockraces pic.twitter.com/Rk49M3ASfq
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) November 23, 2024
Going into the festive period, Williams has already saddled winners of six valuable handicap chases, plus the Betfair Chase and Peterborough Chase. Fontaine Collonges will take her chances at Chepstow, but stable veteran Chambard, rising 13, doesn’t run after pulling-up in the race 12 months ago.
Well-Treated Skelton Mare Feared in Welsh Grand National 2024
Dan Skelton steps Galia Des Liteaux back up in trip after the talented mare finished seventh in the Coral Gold Cup. The assessor drops her 2lb to the same mark she ran a close second off in the Classic Chase around local track Warwick in January. On that basis, Galia Des Liteaux looks well-treated for the Welsh National.
She wasn’t disgraced when fading into eighth at Aintree in the spring either, so it’s easy to see why online bookmakers have her prominent in the Chepstow betting.
Gordon Elliott also runs two in the race, meanwhile. Last season’s Irish Grand National Trial winner and Kim Muir fourth Where It All Began may return to action here. He has a 9lb higher mark than when last successful, and the handicapper dishes out similar treatment to Stuzzikini.
The six-year-old landed the Troytown at Navan, a race where the yard always runs plenty. Such mob-handedness doesn’t guarantee success, however, as Stuzzikini was the only Elliott inmate in the first four. Although most of the main contenders for the Welsh Grand National of 2024 sit higher in the handicap, don’t ignore those lower in the weights.
It’s over 20 years since Nigel Twiston-Davies last won this race, but he steps The Newest One up in trip. The nine-year-old doesn’t have the disadvantage of running from out of the handicap here unlike Cheltenham. The Newest One ran well over hurdles around Chepstow, so why not fences?
Joe Tizzard runs No Hubs No Hoobs, who stayed the trip at Exeter last term so has no stamina doubts. Val Dancer could have more to offer for Mel Rowley too off the back of success at Carlisle. 2022 Welsh National hero The Two Amigos wasn’t declared.
Welsh Grand National 2024 Verdict
Bringing horses to the Chepstow showpiece fresh is Thomas’ policy, but recent race history highlights the importance of fitness. The likes of GALIA DES LITEAUX and O’Neill pair Iron Bridge and Monbeg Genius are thus preferred. Their recent runs aren’t without promise.
Williams duo Fontaine Collonges and Chambard may stay this far, but don’t look as well-treated by the handicapper. Anything crossing the Irish Sea from Elliott’s Cullentra House stables commands respect, but it’s not a stretch to imagine something with a featherweight sneaking into the frame.
That could be a horse like The Newest One. Val Dancer finished ahead of Iron Bridge at Carlisle, meanwhile, and shouldn’t be discounted for her handy trainer.
