Sam Thomas Hopes “Special Horse” Can Provide Glory Again At Welsh Grand National

Welsh trainer Sam Thomas (right) lifts the Coral Welsh Grand National Trophy with jockey Stan Sheppard after Iwilldoit won in 2021. Pic: Chepstow Racecourse.

Sam Thomas Hopes “Special Horse” Can Provide Glory Again At Welsh Grand National

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By Graham Thomas

Welsh trainer Sam Thomas is hopeful Jubilee Express can prove “a special horse” by winning the Coral Welsh Grand National for him – just as Iwilldoit did three years ago.

Thomas sends both horses to the start line at Chepstow on Friday with Jubilee Express most fancied to provide a home winner in Wales’ leading race in the calendar, which carries £150,000 of prize money.

Thomas – who famously rode Denman to Cheltenham Gold glory back in 2008 as a jockey – has admitted he would have liked to have given Jubilee Express a warm-up race in recent weeks, but the seven-year-old was not ready.

“I’d love to have got a prep run into him, but it’s not happened unfortunately,” says the Lisvane-based trainer.

“He’s going there in good form, though, having won at Haydock the last time he ran. It’s just a question of if he’s good enough now.”

Jubilee Express is priced 15/2 with Welsh bookmaker DragonBet and at fourth favourite provides the best chance of Welsh success.

Iwilldoit has the pedigree, having won the race in 2021 but the 11-year-old last raced in February and is considered by some to be past his prime.

He is ridden this year by Callum Pritchard, the highly-rated young Welsh jockey who swapped rugby for racing when he gave up his days as a scrum-half for Wattstown for life in the saddle.

“I couldn’t be happier with him,” says Thomas of Iwilldoit. “He’s sound and well but whether age catches up with him we’ll have to see.”

The other notable Welsh interest in the race rests with leading jockey Sean Bowen, who rides Where It All Began.

Bowen is currently leading the field in the Jump Jockeys’ Championship and a first Welsh Grand National triumph would not only boost his title aims, but would emulate the feat of his younger brother James, who became the youngest jockey to win the Welsh Grand National at the age of 16 with Raz De Maree in 2018.

Thomas says the notorious heavy going at Chepstow in the festive season makes it a specialist job for a stayer who can make light work of the mud.

“We won the race in 2021 with Iwilldoit and there’s no doubt it’s a very tough race to win,” he says.

“You need a special horse, a horse which stays very well, has lots of stamina and in many ways it’s quite a unique race.

“But it’s a lovely race and having won it once, you just want to win it again then.

“There’s a lot of prestige to it and a lot of good horses have won it over the years.

“I remember being there as a kid, running underneath the grandstand, watching them canter down to the start.

“There is a lot of history with the race and I think it’s just one that a lot of trainers want to win, especially those like me who are based in Wales.”

Both Iwilldoit and Jubilee Express are owned by Dai Walters, the Welsh businessmen who founded Ffos Las Racecourse.

The Walters and Thomas partnership has already tasted success this year with Lump Sum and Steel Ally coming in first and second at the Welsh Champion Hurdle.

Last year’s Coral Welsh Grand National was won by Nassalam in emphatic style but he misses the chance to repeat his triumph after being pulled out of the race last week.

The seven-year-old, trained by father and son duo Gary and Josh Moore at their West Sussex yard, cruised to a 34 length win in last year’s race.

But trainer Josh Moore told At The Races: “He’s missed some key bits of work at home, he just needs a bit of time and this has come too soon.”

The Coral Welsh National is at 2.50pm and is live on ITV4.

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