Welsh Hopes For Irish Grand National Carried By Rebecca Curtis And Haiti Couleurs

There was a brave third for Wales in the Scottish Grand National but attention this week turns on the Irish Grand National where a Welsh-trained horse bids to make a slice of history.

The race has stayed on home soil for ten years in a row but Cheltenham Festival winner Haiti Couleurs, trained by Rebecca Curtis in Pembrokeshire, is favourite to scoop the €270,000 first prize at Fairyhouse.

The eight-year-old was an exceptional winner at Cheltenham in the National Hunt Chase, over a similar distance to the Irish Grand National, and could have more to offer even if the handicapper has raised him 6lb.

Curtis is no stranger to success in Ireland having won the prestigious Guinness Handicap Chase at the Punchestown Festival in 2016 with Irish Cavalier. Victory could complete an incredible season, with a tally of 20 winners double that of last season and an impressive strike-rate of 20 per cent.

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The Newport-based trainer is also in terrific form, having had three winners from her last five runners.

Last Saturday, Our Power finished an excellent third for Cardiff-based Sam Thomas in the Scottish National at Ayr at 33-1.

The ten-year-old was prominent throughout the four-mile contest under Dylan Johnston but proved no match for the Willie Mullins pair Captain Cody and Klarc Kent who battled out the finish. 

There was also a huge run in fourth from Grozni, ridden by rising Welsh star Callum Pritchard, who outran odds of 22-1. That continues the jockey’s incredible week having had winners at Kelso, Carlisle, Taunton and Newton Abbot.

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Saturday’s results continue a surprisingly good record for Wales in the Scottish Grand National with Beshabar (2011), Al Co (2014), Joe Farrell (2018) and Win My Wings (2022) all trained in Wales and a Welsh jockey and trainer teaming up with Kitty’s Light in 2023.

Flat season starts

Attention will swiftly turn to the Flat season and Wales’s standout jockey David Probert advertised his talents with a 14-1 Group 3 winner on ITV.

An outsider winning may have been expected given the race was called the Surprise Stakes and two 14-1 shots battled out the finish with Probert able to outmuscle Rossa Ryan to score with Divina Grace.

She was making her first start for the Andrew Balding stable and Probert may likely stay aboard for the remainder of the season where she has a wealth of options.

The adopted Welshman Daniel Muscutt, born in Zimbabwe but raised in West Wales, has also made a promising start to the season with six winners in the last fortnight. They include an easy win for Back In Black in a competitive Newbury handicap. The winner is another destined to appear regularly on the big Saturdays through the summer.

Flying start

Quite simply, it pays to follow Monmouthshire trainer Tom Faulkner. A £1 stake on all of his runners this season would return you a whopping £142.88 and no trainer in the country would make you more.

Faulkner, who took over from mother Deborah a few years ago, has had an excellent start to the season with seven winners and at an impressive strike-rate of 18 per cent.

The trainer had just three winners last season but is clearly on course for a good season while stable star Golden Rules also made a promising return at Kempton a few weeks ago. Expect to see him in the big staying handicaps on the Flat in the weeks to come.

Grace Harris enjoyed her best haul on the Flat last season with 15 winners and is a fifth of the way there after Saffredi won at Wolverhampton.