2024 Welsh Grand National Tips, Odds and Predictions

All eyes might be on Kempton and Leopardstown on December 27th, but Chepstow will stage their biggest event on the racing calendar on that day too, with many of the sport's top handicap chasers taking part in the Welsh Grand National.

This historic handicap was first run back in the late 1800s. Many of the sports finest stayers have won the Welsh National, and some even go on to take part in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Aintree Grand National later in the season.

Welsh Grand National Odds

We'll publish the betting for the Welsh Grand National when the odds are released.

Welsh Grand National Tips

Our guide to the Welsh Grand National will be released when the field has been confirmed.

2022 Welsh Grand National Result

Position
Name
SP
1st The Two Amigos16/1
2nd The Big Breakaway 12/1
3rd The Big Dog 11/2
4th Truckers Lodge 12/1
5th Movethechains16/1

Welsh Grand National Trends (2021)

  • 18 of the last 20 winners were aged between six and nine
  • 18 of the last 20 winners finished in the top four places on their last start
  • 17 of the last 20 winners had previously won on Very Soft or Heavy ground
  • 16 of the last 20 winners had run over a distance of three-and-a-half-miles (28 furlongs) at least once before
  • 16 of the last 20 winners had run at least twice that season
  • 15 of the last 20 winners carried a weight of 10-10 or less
  • 15 of the last 20 winners went off at 10/1 or shorter
  • 11 of the last 20 winners had won over fences at Chepstow
  • Welsh Grand National History

    The Welsh Grand National is one of the oldest, and most important handicaps in all of National Hunt racing. 

    Open to horses of four or older, the Welsh National is run at Chepstow racecourse in Monmouthshire.

    The distance they travel is 3 miles and 6½ furlongs, which becomes incredibly testing when the ground turns heavy, as it often does at Chepstow over Christmas.

    Ely racecourse in Cardiff hosted the first Welsh Grand National in 1895. Caerleon racecourse hosted several runnings of the Welsh National after the second World War, before Chepstow became this handicap's premanent home.

    Bookmakers Coral have been sponsoring the Welsh Grand National since 1973, making it one of the longest-running partnerships in the entire sport.

    The Welsh Grand National used to be staged during late February. However, in order to attract horses who might wish to run at the Cheltenham Festival, organisers moved the race back to December 27th in the late 1970s, and the calibre of the horses who enter the Welsh Grand National has risen ever since.

    Jenny Pitman's Corbiere won the 1982 Welsh Grand National, before going on to win the Grand National at Aintree that same season. 1983 saw Pitman's Burrough Hill Lad claim the honours at Chepstow, and John Francome's mount went on to Cheltenham to win the Gold Cup just a few months later.

    Luke Harvey rode Cool Ground to victory in the Welsh National in 1990, and he too would go on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Master Oats achieved that famous double in 1994/95, while Earth Summit completed the Welsh National and Aintree Grand National double three years later.

    Bindaree was the reigning Grand National champion when he triumphed at Chepstow in 2003. Silver Birch won the Welsh National for Paul Nicholls, before becoming Gordon Elliott's first high-profile winner when he scored in the Aintree Grand National in 2007.

    AP McCoy rode Synchronised to Welsh Grand National glory, before repeating that feat in the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following season. The last Welsh Grand National winner to triumph in the Cheltenham Gold Cup was Native River, who won under top-weight at Chepstow in 2016, before claiming the big prize at the Cheltenham Festival in 2018.

    Martin Pipe's Bonanza Boy is the only horse to have successfully defended thre Welsh Grand National, winning back-to-back renewals in 1988 and '89. Mountainous is the only other two-time winner of this historic handicap, scoring in 2013 and again in 2015.

    13-year-old Raz De Maree became the oldest horse to win the Welsh National in 2017, before Elegant Escape handed Colin Tizzard a second victory the following year.

    2019 saw a Welsh-trained horse win ther home Grand National for the first time in 50-years, as Christian Williams' Potters Corner held on to win under young jockey, Jack Tudor.

    Having waited for half-a-century for a home winner, Welsh fans celebrated again in 2020, as Evan William's Secret Reprieve justified favouritism with a dominant victory under Adam Wedge.

    Welsh Grand National Winners

    Year
    Winner
    2022 The Two Amigos
    2021 Iwilldoit
    2020 Secret Reprieve
    2019 Potters Corner
    2018 Elegant Escape
    2017 Raz De Maree
    2016 Native River
    2015 Mountainous
    2014 Emperor's Choice
    2013 Mountainous
    2012 Monbeg Dude
    2011 Le Beauu Bai
    2010 Synchronised
    2009 Dream Alliance
    2008 Notre Pere
    2007 Miko De Beauchene
    2006 Halcon Generlardais
    2005 L'Adventure
    2004 Silver Birch
    2003 Bindaree
    2002 Mini Sensation

    Burrough Hill Lad Winning The 1983 Welsh National