The Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow takes centre stage today on what is another fantastic day of racing action. It's Coral's 50th anniversary sponsoring the race today, and it could be made even more special with your Coral Racing Club trainer, Joe Tizzard, having high hopes for The Big Breakaway.

Coral Welsh Grand National, Chepstow 14.50 – The Big Breakaway

The Coral Welsh Grand National is one of the races we look to target every year, and we’ve been lucky enough to win it twice previously. Native River obviously went on to be a Gold Cup horse, and looking back we did think he was a certainty that day, whereas Elegant Escape was much more similar in profile to this year’s runner, The Big Breakaway. The Big Breakaway is a horse we’ve always thought plenty of, this has been the target since he came back from his summer break, and I really think the tempo of the race will suit him.   

On his first run back, at Haydock, the first circuit wasn’t that encouraging, but I think that because he had sore shins throughout last season, I think he was just feeling himself, he needed to get his confidence back. The further he went, the better he went, and he ended up finishing a really good second, and importantly, he seems to have come out of the race really well. As I say, I think the tempo of a Welsh National will be perfect for him, he’ll have plenty of time to warm into the race, get into a good rhythm, and Brendan [Powell] can hopefully pick his way into the race, give him plenty of room, get him jumping. 

He has got to prove his stamina over this marathon trip, but in all his races he has galloped all the way through the line, so I have to be hopeful he’ll get it well. We certainly haven’t changed our opinion of him, and this would be a great day to get him back on track. It would be extra special to win this race this year, as it’s kindly being run in honour of [sister] Kim, which is a lovely tribute, and The Big Breakaway still has the potential to be a really nice horse, he’s fully developed now, there are no niggly problems, and this could be his season.

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Chepstow 15.25 – Oscar Elite

Oscar Elite is a lovely horse, who has been placed at two Cheltenham Festivals, but is still a maiden over fences, and we’ve not won with him for a while. He has won over hurdles around Chepstow a couple of times, so the track should suit him, and we’ve just lowered our sights after his run in the Coral Gold Cup, not that he wasn’t worth his place in the line up that day, as I did fancy him to run a big race, but it just didn’t pan out for him. One day it will click over fences, over this slightly shorter trip hopefully it could be here.

Chepstow 15.55 – Rivers Corner

Rivers Corner is a lovely young horse who ran OK for a while on his debut at Exeter.  He’ll have learned plenty that day, and will be sharper for it here, but he’s still got plenty of time on his side, and we won’t be in a rush with him.

Kempton 15.09 – Striking A Pose

This three mile chase has attracted a better field than I had hoped it would, with Remastered just sneaking in at the top of the 0 – 145 ratings band, but Striking A Pose ran well here last time over shorter, and if he’s doing his best work at the end, and provided he hasn’t got caught for a bit of speed, could run well at an each way price.