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- Sean Bowen And Rebecca Curtis Chase Welsh Double With Haiti Couleurs
It would be a victory that would propel the pair firmly into Gold Cup contention.
Haiti Couleurs, the top jumps horse in Wales and a big hope for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, faces his biggest test yet in Saturday’s first Grade One of the season.
The eight-year-old, already a Cheltenham Festival and Irish Grand National winner, is around 7-2 with DragonBet to beat last year’s runner-up Grey Dawning, the 10-11 favourite, and dual winner Royale Pagaille.
Curtis has targeted this race since Haiti Couleurs’ winning reappearance over hurdles at Newbury earlier this month.
“It’s really exciting to have a horse like him and he seems to keep improving, which is good,” she told the Racing Post.
“He’s come on a bit for Newbury. It was his first proper outing; he’ll have tightened up a bit and he should be bang on ready.”
His performances last season put him on the Gold Cup radar — he is between 14-1 and 25-1 for March — but Curtis believes Haydock offers a clearer measure of his credentials than next week’s Coral Gold Cup, where he would be forced to carry top weight.
“I don’t see any reason why not to run on Saturday,” she said.
“We did originally have the Coral Gold Cup as the plan for him, but I think the way it's going to work out he’ll probably end up nearly top weight there.
“And I’d have a different jockey on him who doesn’t know him because Sean has to ride Resplendent Grey, and he'd be giving lots of weight away.
“That’s not the only reason. I think it's a good opportunity to have a shot at a Grade 1 and it will give us a good pointer as to where we’re at for the season with him, and where we're going after Christmas.”
Bowen arrives in top form after a successful Cheltenham November Meeting, where Ruby Walsh hailed him on ITV Racing as a “joy to watch”.
He also partnered Sir Alex Ferguson’s Wade Out to an astonishing victory in a Listed novice chase.
“I’m riding on a high at the minute; I’m riding for good people who let you do what you think is best,” said Bowen.
Racing analysts expect the Betfair Chase to develop into a match between Grey Dawning and Haiti Couleurs, with conditions unlikely to be as testing as previous years.
With his proven stamina from last season’s staying victories, Haiti Couleurs is expected to finish strongly up Haydock’s long home straight.
A win would not only confirm him as a major player for the 2025 Gold Cup but deliver a landmark result: a Welsh-trained, Welsh-ridden winner of one of the season’s key Grade Ones.
