Welsh Grand National is a National Hunt race in Britain. The Grade 3 race takes place at Chepstow racecourse located in Wales, and covers a total distance of 5,934 meters. During the race, horses jump over twenty-two hurdles, thus making it more challenging and interesting. It is scheduled for the 27th of December each year, and is only meant for horses aged four years and above. It was inaugurated way back in 1895, making it one of the oldest races in England. Welsh Grand National is a handicap race run on a left-handed track and is sponsored by Coral.
The race was first run at Ely racecourse in 1895. It was until later in 1939 when it was moved to Caerleon, following the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1949, Welsh Grand National was moved to its present venue at Chepstow racecourse. The race used to take place every Tuesday after the Easter Monday before being re-scheduled to December later in 1979. This was mainly because of bad weather, which put off many racegoers, decreasing the
turnout number of the race. The first winner was Fighting line, being ridden by Dick Francis, a well-known jockey of
that era. David Nicholson won three consecutive times in 1959, 1960 and 1961.Bindaree and Silver Birch won both the Welsh Grand National and Ainree Grand National in the recent years. Synchronized, who won the race in 2010, also emerged the winner of Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2012.
Today, the race is known to attract huge crowds of racegoers being held just a day after the Boxing Day. This year, the race will be far much more competitive than usual. Mystree, a 10 year old racehorse trained by Michael Scudamore will be participating. It will be taking place as from 2:05 pm. In 2017, the winner of Welsh Grand National walked away with a total of 150,000 Euros.