Organised horse racing in Wales originated with the gentry and aristocracy and among the earliest organised racing were point-to-point meetings.[1] By 1833 there were internationally recognised flat races at many locations around the country, including Cowbridge, Haverfordwest, Conwy, Aberystwyth, Brecon and Wrexham.[1] The Cowbridge races were very popular and attracted entries from as far away as Yorkshire. Steeplechasing began at Bangor-on-Dee racecourse in the 1850s and is still a racecourse to this day.
When diarist John Byng in 1787 mentioned that he was passing 'not far from Cowbridge race ground' he was acknowledging the fame of the race meetings, which had grown from a family occasion into 'the Glamorgan races'.[2] Early races were the scene of heavy betting and attracted other entertainments as diverse as exclusive balls, pig racing and prostitution.[1] This brought large crowds to races and a mingling of the social classes though the sport itself remained in the control of the gentry. The Welsh gentry used horseracing to integrate themselves with their English counterparts, to gain a place for themselves in an elite British culture.[1] In the mid and later 19th century there was growing pressure from religious quarters due to what was seen as the immoral and drunkenly behaviour that accompanied race days. This led to the Wrexham Races being abandoned between 1862 and 1890.[1]
The 20th century saw the Welsh working class embrace the sport, mainly due to newspaper coverage and the spread of off-course betting.[1] 1926 saw the opening of Chepstow Racecourse at St Arvans, and although remaining on the margins of British horseracing until the opening of the Severn Bridge in 1966, it is now the country's premier course. Chepstow holds the Welsh National, which is held annually between Christmas and New Year. Due to the growth of other leisure activities and the cost of keeping and breeding horse, flat and national hunt racing went into long-term decline in Wales from the middle of the 19th century.[1] From the middle of the 20th century most of the country's racecourses had closed. Today only three racecourses survive in Wales, Chepstow, Bangor-on-Dee and Ffos Las which was opened in 2009.
Harness racing
A popular, if unusual, form of horseracing in Wales is harness racing, known in Wales as 'trotting'.[1] The sport involves horses racing at a non-galloping gait while being driven by men or women poised on two wheeled 'sulkies'.[3] The sport grew in Wales in the late 19th century, originally involving Welsh cobs competing along roads. As the popularity of the sport rose, the races were transferred to grass tracks and 'standard bred' horses were imported from America to replace the native breeds.[3] The oldest trotting meet in Wales is the Llangadog which has been held every Easter Monday since 1884.[3] In 1990, 'Tir Prince' an American-style raceway was opened in Towyn which now holds 13 races a year, many of which are shown on Welsh language television channel S4C on its programme Rasus.[4][5]Tregaron Trotting Club is host to the biggest festival of harness racing in the UK, an annual three day meeting on the last weekend in August.
Notable Welsh jockeys
Wales has produced several jockeys of note, including Jack Anthony who won the Grand National on three occasions (1911, 1915 and 1920),[6]Hywel Davies who won it in 1985 and Carl Llewellyn who won the race in 1992 and again in 1998. Another notable Welsh jockey was Dick Francis, who was British jump racing Champion Jockey in the 1953-54 season and was famous for riding Devon Loch when the horse slipped close to the winning post when leading the 1956 Grand National.[7] In retirement Francis became a best-selling author of crime novels set in the racing world.
Two horses trained in Wales have won Britain's premier steeplechase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup; Patron Saint in 1928 and Norton's Coin in 1990. Norton's Coin, at 100-1, is the longest-priced winner of the race and won in a then-record time. He was trained by his owner, Sirrel Griffiths, a dairy farmer from Nantgaredig in Carmarthenshire.[9]
In the first decade of the 21st century, several trainers based in Wales have made an impact in National Hunt racing. Evan Williams, based in the Vale of Glamorgan, and Peter Bowen from Pembrokeshire have established themselves as successful trainers while Tim Vaughan, also from the Vale of Glamorgan, has started out on a training career with some success. Nigel Twiston-Davies, trainer of two Grand National winners and Imperial Commander, the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, is Welsh, although his training stables are in England.[10]
↑ Morgan, Prys, ed. (1988). Glamorgan County History, Volume VI, Glamorgan Society 1780 to 1980. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p.382. ISBN0-904730-05-0.
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in the UK and steeplechasing in the US. Jump racing can be further divided into hurdling and steeplechasing.
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain, and one of the longest established, with a history dating back many centuries. According to a report by the British Horseracing Authority it generates £3.39 billion total direct and indirect expenditure in the British economy, of which £1.05 Billion is from core racing industry expenditure and the major horse racing events such as Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival are important dates in the British and international sporting and society calendar.
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch. In the UK, the biggest National Hunt events of the year are generally considered to be the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Sky Sports Racing is a British pay television channel devoted to horse racing. A joint venture between Sky Group and Arena Racing Company, it broadcasts coverage of domestic, European and international horse racing events.
The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of about 3 miles and 6½ furlongs, and during its running there are twenty-three fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year on 27 December.
Chepstow Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing course located just north of the town of Chepstow in Monmouthshire, Wales, near the southern end of the Wye Valley and close to the border with England. It is one of 16 racecourses operated by the Arena Racing Company and is home of the richest race in Wales, the Coral Welsh Grand National.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
Keiba; Horse racing in Japan is a popular equestrian sport, with more than 21,000 horse races held each year. There are three types of racing that take place in Japan - flat racing, jump racing, and Ban'ei Racing.
Harness racing in New Zealand is primarily a professional sport which involves pacing and trotting competitions for Standardbred racehorses. The difference is the horse's gait or running style:
The Ffos Las racecourse is a Welsh horse racing, equestrian sports and conferencing venue situated in Ffos Las, Wales. The Ffos Las racecourse was built at the site of an open cast coal mine after mining operations ceased.
Darren Charles Owen is a horse racing commentator, born 3 June 1967 in St. Asaph, North Wales.
Northern Racing was a private company that owned ten horse racing courses and one golf course in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1998 by Sir Stanley Clarke CBE, and after being listed on the Alternative Investment Market, was owned privately by the Reuben Brothers. In 2012, it was merged with Arena Leisure to form Arena Racing Company
The Welsh Champion Hurdle is a National Hunt Limited handicap hurdle race in Wales which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ffos Las over a distance of about 2 miles and it is scheduled to take place each year in October.
Norton's Coin was a British Thoroughbred racehorse, best known for his 100/1 win in the 1990 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was an obscurely-bred gelding owned and trained in Wales by Sirrell Griffiths, a dairy farmer who had only two other horses in his stable.
Carl Llewellyn is an assistant racehorse trainer to Nigel Twiston-Davies and a retired Welsh professional National Hunt jockey. Llewellyn won the Grand National on two occasions along with the Welsh Grand National and Scottish Grand National as a jockey. He has also won the Whitbread / Bet365 Gold Cup both as a jockey and as a trainer and many grade races.
Sean Bowen is a Welsh jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. Bowen is the son of horse racing trainer Peter Bowen.
Horse racing in Ireland is intricately linked with Irish culture and society. The racing of horses has a long history on the island, being mentioned in some of the earliest texts. Domestically, racing is one of Ireland's most popular spectator sports, while on the international scene, Ireland is one of the strongest producers and trainers of Thoroughbred horses. The Irish horse racing industry is closely linked with that of Great Britain, with Irish horses regularly competing and winning on the British racing circuit.
Sam Thomas is a retired Welsh National Hunt jockey who is now a horse trainer. He is best known for winning the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup with Denman.
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