Sean Bowen Looks Ahead to More Dragon-Hearted Doubles After Haiti Couleurs' Welsh Grand National Glory with Rebecca Curtis

The Welsh champion jockey was at the heart of a hugely popular local triumph as a packed racecourse witnessed one of the most memorable renewals of the historic staying chase, first run in 1895.

Bowen’s reaction summed up a day that celebrated Welsh pride, resilience and sporting excellence, as he partnered Rebecca Curtis’s Haiti Couleurs to a commanding front-running victory in front of a bumper festive crowd.

A total of 9,425 racegoers poured through the gates at Chepstow, an 11 per cent increase on last year and the biggest attendance since 2016, and they were rewarded with a stirring home success that sparked emotional scenes in the grandstands and winner’s enclosure.

For Bowen, born and raised in west Wales, the significance of the moment was clear as he reflected on what the victory meant both personally and professionally.

“What a racehorse and what a training performance to get him back from Haydock,” said Bowen in praise of Curtis’s extraordinary effort.

“That was just over a month ago and to get him back is just incredible.

“It means so much. These are the races you want to win and to do it on a Welsh-trained horse for a Welsh trainer is special.

“Becky actually used to babysit me a bit as a kid, so to do it for Becky is a bit like doing it for family, so that was amazing.

“It’s unbelievable and it would have been nice to win the King George as well, but I’ll take this.”

Those words summed up the scale of the achievement, coming just 24 hours after Bowen had suffered narrow disappointment aboard Banbridge in the King George VI Chase at Kempton.

This, however, was a moment of redemption and celebration, marking his first success in Wales’ biggest race.

The victory also continued a remarkable year for Bowen, who in April became the first Welsh champion jump jockey in more than half a century. Adding the Welsh Grand National to his growing list of achievements represented another landmark in a season to remember.

“Winning a Welsh National is what it’s all about,” he said.

“It’s an incredible training performance. I don’t think people will appreciate how good a job Becky has done training him to come back from Haydock. He’s gone from pulling up halfway down the back and going nowhere to making all the running in a Welsh National off top weight.

“You want to win all the big races but in Wales you have the crowd behind you. I’ve finally caught up with my brother James [who won as a 16-year-old with Raz De Maree in 2017], which is good.”

Haiti Couleurs carried a testing 11st 13lb, defying the burden with a bold, relentless display that echoed the famous front-running success of Native River in 2016, the last horse to win the race under such a big weight.

The atmosphere had been building long before the off, heightened by the traditional singing of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, led by Welsh soprano Clara Greening, and it reached its peak as Haiti Couleurs powered clear in the closing stages to beat O’Connell by three lengths.

Bowen’s decisive response turning for home underlined his confidence in the eight-year-old, who never allowed his rivals to seriously threaten once he had established his rhythm at the head of affairs.

The celebrations rolled on after the race, with Bowen receiving congratulations from another Welsh sporting icon, Geraint Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner, in the winner’s enclosure.

For trainer Curtis, the result was deeply emotional. Training from Newport, Pembrokeshire, she had endured frustration after Haiti Couleurs was pulled up in last month’s Betfair Chase at Haydock, but she never lost faith in the horse’s ability.

“I’m absolutely delighted to get him back, I was upset about Haydock and I knew he was still a very good horse,” Curtis said.

“He’s done that so well and aggressively today, he outclassed them and was back to his very best. Sean said he had to go to the front as he couldn’t hold him, and when he’s like that, you know he’s back to his best.

“I’m Welsh, Sean’s Welsh and most of my staff are and it’s a really prestigious race we have wanted to win for many years. I’m also thrilled for my owners who have been brilliant with me.

“The Irish National was brilliant. I can’t say one’s better than the other, but what’s nice about this is that everyone wrote him off after his last run. Not many people fancied him there but it’s nice to get him back. He’s been an amazing horse.”

Haiti Couleurs had already proven his stamina with victory in the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse in April, but this performance reasserted his standing among the elite staying chasers after doubts had crept in following Haydock.

The win also ensured a first Welsh-trained winner of the race since Sam Thomas’s Iwilldoit in 2021, reinforcing the strength of Welsh racing on one of its biggest stages.

Bookmakers were quick to shorten Haiti Couleurs’ odds for both the Grand National at Aintree and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with inevitable comparisons drawn to Native River, who followed his Welsh National triumph with Gold Cup success a year later.

As the crowd slowly drifted away from Chepstow, the echoes of a dramatic afternoon lingered. For Bowen, the roar of approval from the stands and the weight of history attached to the race made it a victory unlike any other.