Chepstow celebrates centenary as Conca D’Oro’s 1926 first race is remembered

Chepstow racecourse marked its centenary this week, recalling that Conca D’Oro won the inaugural race there on 6 August, 1926. The 370-acre estate opened that year and introduced National Hunt racing in 1927, months after the course began hosting meetings.

Chepstow is closely associated with the Welsh Grand National run during the Christmas holidays and has staged notable flat and jump days across the century. Sir Gordon Richards rode 11 consecutive winners on the Flat over a two-day meeting in 1933, an achievement recorded in the track’s early history.

The Welsh Grand National has earlier roots at Ely racecourse in Cardiff, which hosted the event from its inauguration in 1895 until 1939; the race relocated to Chepstow in 1949 when Dick Francis was aboard the winner, Fighting Line. Several horses have completed the Aintree and Chepstow double, including Bindaree, Corbiere, Earth Summit, Rag Trade and Silver Birch.

A number of Cheltenham Gold Cup victors also passed through Chepstow beforehand: Burrough Hill Lad, Cool Ground, Master Oats and Native River are cited among those who proved their credentials at the course prior to Gold Cup success. The Welsh National itself has produced memorable days and tough finishes, reflected in the profiles of these horses.

Fourteen-times champion trainer Paul Nicholls recalled the contest’s intensity and his own connections to it, saying: “You’ve got fight your way in and fight your way out on Welsh National day.” Nicholls noted he trained Silver Birch and L’Aventure to wins in 2004 and 2005 and previously won the race as a jockey on Playschool in 1987; he added that his first memory was losing a hunter chase early in his career on Energy Saver to Nigel Twiston-Davies.

The 2009 Welsh National victory by Dream Alliance was later dramatised in the 2020 film Dream Horse after the small syndicate-owned horse overcame serious injury, hours of surgery and stem cell treatment. Jan Vokes, the barmaid and supermarket worker who proposed raising the horse on her allotment near Blackwood, said: “It was a real fairy story,” and added: “Dream Alliance was working class like us, he came from nowhere. He was just a special horse.”

Ryan Moore returns to the riding line-up for the Shergar Cup at Ascot on Saturday for the first time in 20 years, riding as part of the Great Britain & Ireland team captained by Saffie Osborne; the piece states the team are short-priced favourites against rivals from Europe, Hong Kong and the Rest of the World. All five of Moore’s rides on the card are priced at single-figure odds and he is a solid 11-4 favourite to win the Silver Saddle; Osborne and Dylan Browne McMonagle are also linked with likely favourites Hoseki (3.55) and Night Breeze (2.45) respectively.

The preview lists specific rides and prospects across the card: at Ascot (1.35) hold-up horse Kendall Roy is expected to benefit from a strong pace and a repeat of his close third at Cork last month could give Frida Valle-Skar a first British winner; Newmarket (1.55) features Charlie Appleby’s Dubawi filly Graceful Song, who followed an impressive winning debut over track and trip last month; Ascot (2.10) highlights Hermetic as progressing since joining Ian Williams’s stable over the winter; Haydock (2.25) notes Sallaal’s impressive handicap victory at Epsom in June.

Further selections include Ascot (2.45) where last year’s winner Night Breeze has remained competitive off marks in the 90s this season; Haydock (3.00) where Fallen Angel’s rather disappointing return is balanced by Karl Burke’s mare possessing a stone or more in hand of this field on her best form; Ascot (3.20) cites Thunder Call’s finishing effort when third at Newmarket last time; Ascot (3.55) projects Hoseki to complete a four-timer off a 5lb higher mark after a short-head win over track and trip last time; and Ascot (4.30) recommends Ozat for another chance following a nightmare passage at Goodwood and a strong Royal Hunt Cup showing in June.

Moore’s scheduled return at the Shergar Cup at Ascot on Saturday is the immediate fixture arising from the centenary coverage, and the card for that day includes the Ascot contests and the Newmarket and Haydock races detailed above.