By Alex Bray
Although focus in the build up to this year’s Coral Welsh Grand National was captivated by entrants from big yards, none more so than The Big Dog brought over from Ireland by trainer Peter Fahey, it is often those a little closer to home that enjoy the success of Wales’ most prestigious race.
This has been the case at Chepstow from day one, with Pembrokeshire born Dick Francis winning the first edition held at the Monmouthshire track. The dominance of Welsh trained horses has never been more entrenched than in recent years started by Potters Corner in 2019, a horse with entirely Welsh connections, then Secret Reprieve (2020) and Iwilldoit (2021).
This year, run in memory of retired trainer Colin Tizzard’s late daughter Kim Gingell, it looked to most as though the famous trophy would be leaving Cyrmru and heading over the bridge or further afield. But the Welsh are tough folk, this wasn’t going to happen easily.
Enter The Two Amigos who is a horse that is no stranger to the Chepstow mud, fifth in 2019 and a plucky second in 2020. Only missing the 2021 edition due to the trainer, Nicky Martin, forgetting to enter him. This year to be ridden by the Welsh jockey, David Prichard. A conditional rider claiming 5lbs.
As the race unfolded in the home straight, the test proved too much for many of the runners but The Two Amigos stayed on strongly, winning by one and a quarter lengths from Joe Tizzard’s The Big Breakway. The Big Dog was back in third and Truckers Lodge in fourth (ridden by Kim Gingell’s son Freddie).
It was a fairytale victory for Prichard, a jockey who has had to work so very hard during his career and basically starving himself on Boxing Day to make the 10st 6lb weight needed to keep his claim.
The Coral Welsh Grand National is a race that has never failed to provide entertainment and drama over Coral’s fifty year sponsorship, and this year was no different. It was also brilliant to be able to put on show for a capacity Welsh crowd of 10,000 that has been starved of the event for so long.
