Ffos Las Racecourse featuring the Welsh Champion Hurdle

We’ve seen horse racing tracks and greyhound racing tracks get closed down in recent years, although Ffos Las was opened in 2009 to buck the trend of closures and become the first racecourse to be created in several decades.

Ffos Las is in Carmarthenshire, with the racecourse becoming the third racecourse in Wales after Chepstow (home of the Welsh Grand National) and Bangor-on-Dee.

It has quickly become a popular racecourse and features several meetings throughout the year, especially ones that are designed to attract recreational punters who also like to enjoy a picnic or a music concert.

The Ffos Las racecourse and accompanying facilities are now owned by Arena Racing Company, with the Welsh Champion Hurdle the highlight race on the calendar and we’ve seen some star horses appear in this race.

Bet on the Welsh Champion Hurdle

Like its English and Scottish equivalent, the Welsh Champion Hurdle is a two-mile encounter which attracts several big names and The New One is among the winners of this race, with the Nigel Twiston-Davies horse having been one of the strongest two-mile hurdlers in recent years.

The Welsh Champion Hurdle takes place in October each year, with five-year-old Silver Streak winning the 2018 renewal and it was the first time a horse of that age had managed to win the race since Saphir Du Rheu in 2014.

The race actually started in 1969 and was run at Chepstow Racecourse for several years, with the course ending the race in 2002 although it has since been reinvented and is one of the highlights when it comes to Welsh horse racing.

Sprinter Sacre Wins at Ffos Las

Sprinter Sacre is a legendary National Hunt horse who won the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2013 and then returned to the Cheltenham Festival in 2016 to win the same race again.

In the beginning, the Nicky Henderson-trained horse started out as novice hurdler and made an appearance at Ffos Las during the 2010/11 season when winning at the Welsh racecourse.

It was a ten-length victory and Sprinter Sacre then made his first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival later that season when running in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle where he finished third behind eventual winner Al Ferof.

Ffos Las Hosts Several Meetings

Racegoers to Ffos Las can enjoy a Gin & Jazz Racenight, Picnic Raceday and Ladies Day among others. The Ladies Day meeting is regarded as the big summer meeting and attracts racegoers from all over Wales and beyond, with live entertainment taking place after the racing has finished.

With Ffos Las having now been in operation for ten years, it’s very much a thriving part of the Welsh community and offers two different types of horse racing, with Flat racing taking place during the spring and summer months, while the autumn and winter months sees National Hunt racing staged here.