2022 Welsh Grand National Tips
The 2021 Welsh National was won by Iwilldoit, with the eight-year-old trained by Sam Thomas and the horse could be bidding to land a double when lining up twelve months down the line. The bookmakers certainly respect the chances of a horse who claimed two victories last season.
However, it’s the Venetia Williams-trained Quick Wave who is trading as the betting favourite and the nine-year-old looks more than capable of getting the trip of three miles, six-and-a-half furlongs. After all, it was the beginning of December where we saw the horse claim a win at Sandown Racecourse and that was over a similar distance.
Ask Me Early is also prominent when it comes to the 2022 Welsh Grand National betting, with the horse most recently being seen in a handicap chase at Bangor-on-Dee, with the eight-year-old performing relatively well on bottomless ground over a distance of three miles on that occasion.
Another interesting runner is Gericault Roque who was second in the 2022 Ultima Handicap Chase when finishing second to Corach Rambler. He flattered to deceive on a seasonal reappearance at Aintree, although produced a decent showing in the Coral Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury Racecourse, with this being over three miles and two furlongs.
Many of the biggest and best horse racing meetings on the calendar have numerous big races that capture the imagination of racing fans. The Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood have plenty of highlights, for instance. Some big meetings, meanwhile, revolve around one main race, which is the case here at Chepstow for the Welsh Grand National meeting.
Racing Betting Highlights
The Welsh Grand National itself is a historical Grade 3 handicap steeplechase that has been run since 1895 and runs – or at least is scheduled to run – on 27th December each year at Chepstow Racecourse in Wales. Open to horses aged four years and older and run over a distance of three miles, five and a half furlongs, there are 22 fences to be negotiated. Add to that the often terrible weather conditions in Wales in late December and this race is certainly a real challenge for runners and riders.
Aside from the main event, the Welsh National, the other highlight on the Chepstow card is the Grade 1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle. Open to three year olds, this two mile hurdle event has eight hurdles to jump and is one of three Grade 1 juvenile hurdles in the National Hunt season, alongside the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and the Anniversary 4-y-o Novices’ Hurdle, which runs at the Grand National Meeting at Aintree in April.
These two races are joined by a Class 4 Maiden Hurdle, a Class 3 Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase for five year olds and older, a Class 2 Handicap Hurdle for five year olds and older, a Class 2 Handicap Chase, also for horses aged five and older, and a Class 5 National Hunt Flat race to make up a solid seven-race card.
Betting Insight
Given that most racing punters are interested primarily in betting on the Welsh Grand National itself, we will focus here on the betting trends and information for the big race itself. Having said that, some of the information will be applicable to all races on the card, for instance assessing the weather conditions in advance of the meeting.
Key Trends
Starting with the weather, it is clear that any race meeting taking place in the UK or Ireland in December is highly likely to experience potentially extreme weather conditions. Indeed, the Welsh Grand National Meeting has had to be postponed on several occasions due to waterlogging, snow or severe frost. As such it is often the case that the ground will be heavy and thus betting on horses who perform well in the more challenging conditions is almost always likely to pay dividends. This applies especially when placing ante post bets well in advance of specific weather forecasts for race day.
Of course, the flip side of that is that in the unlikely event of the weather and ground being good, there may be some real value racing odds on a horse that prefers the firmer ground and would normally have been overlooked. Fans of long-range forecasting can certainly look to take advantage here, especially if they can grab the value before the market and bookies react.
Looking at trends for the Welsh National, despite the race being open to horses aged four and older, no four year old has ever won the race at Chepstow, indeed no five year old has either and only three six year olds have triumphed (including Native River in 2016).
Since 1948 there have been 14 seven year old winners, 21 eight year old winners, eight nine year olds, 14 aged 10, and four older still. The 2017 victor Raz De Maree was the oldest winner of the race at 13 years of age. But focussing on the eight year old who do their best work on heavy ground should lead you in the right direction more often than not.
No trainer has really dominated this race in recent years, though Martin Pipe saddled five winners between 1988 and 1993. Some of the big hitters of the modern era have each won the race twice (ahead of the 2018 renewal): Jonjo O’Neill, Nigel Twiston-Davies, Paul Nicholls and Venetia Williams.
Clearly seeking the betting value using our racing odds comparison will give you the best chance of maximising your profits, so we would recommend that course of action for this meeting, and indeed all race meetings.
Welsh Grand National – A Brief History
As mentioned the Welsh Grand National was inaugurated in 1895 when it originally took place at Ely Racecourse in Cardiff. This course closed in 1939 and after the Second World War the Welsh National was transferred to Caerleon for the 1948 renewal and then to Chepstow in 1949, where it has remained ever since (except in 1994 when it was run at Newbury).
The race originally took place on Easter Tuesday but in 1969 it was moved to February and then in 1979 it was shifted to late December. Coral have sponsored the race since 1973, making it the longest sponsorship deal in jump racing.
Welsh Grand National FAQ
The Welsh Grand National takes place on 27 December every year at Chepstow Racecourse. It is always run during the festive period and occasionally has to be postponed due to the bad weather that is often experienced at this time of year. Chepstow is a Welsh horse racing track and this race has been in operation since 1895, with top-quality chasing horses lining up to compete.
The Welsh National distance is around three miles, six-and-a-half furlongs, making this slightly shorter than the Grand National although it still requires the winning horse to jump twenty-three fences. The going is regularly soft or even heavy and the cut in the ground means that it’s worth looking at a horse who is carrying less weight.
There are always a huge number of horses running in the Welsh National and it can be difficult to narrow down the field. However, we recommend choosing two or three horses at decent prices and you can hopefully have the winning selection from this small pool of horses. You should look at the form of each horse and how they have performed in previous races.
Potters Corner was successful in the 2019 running of the Welsh Grand National, giving trainer Christian Williams his first winner in the race, although Colin Tizzard has scored two recent winners with Native River and Elegant Escape. Raz De Maree won for Gavin Cromwell and it’s a race that was won by Mountainous and 2013 and 2015.
There are a number of leading bookies and they are all featured at Racing-Odds.com. These operators will have competitive odds for the Welsh National and you can also enjoy Best Odds Guaranteed. There is also the chance to get different each-way terms and the Welsh National is the sort of race where a lot of punters like to bet each-way.
There’s the chance to bet antepost on the Welsh National considering that it’s a big race and a bookmaker might have prices available months in advance of the event. Backing antepost is great in terms of securing potentially bigger odds, while there are then Early Prices a couple of days before the race and then you can expect to get Best Odds Guaranteed when it comes to the day of the race.
Every horse in the Welsh Grand National is handicapped according to previous performance. Therefore, each runner is carrying a different weight and this can have a huge bearing on the outcome of the horse race. Sometimes it’s worth picking out a horse off a lower weight, especially if that weight was given before a recent impressive performance which means they could cheat the handicapper.
The Welsh National is live streamed on a number of bookmakers thanks to their Bet and Watch system, with customers able to sign into their account and place a bet on this race at Chepstow. Once they have placed a bet, then you can get access to the race from start to finish along with commentary. There’s even the chance to bet In-Running when the race goes off.