96 RUNNERS DECLARED FOR OPENING DAY OF DRAGONBET WELSH RACING FESTIVAL
Wednesday 7th October 2026 – A total of 96 runners have been declared to run across an eight-race card at Chepstow this Friday on the opening day of the three-day DragonBet Welsh Racing Festival
The feature race of the afternoon is the DragonBet Persian War Novices’ Hurdle (G2), which is worth £80,000 and run over 2m3½f. 11 runners have been declared for this Grade 2 contest, which has been won by the likes of jumps stars Reve de Sivola (2009), Silviniaco Conti (2010) and Thyme Hill (2019) in years gone by.
Faye Bramley’s nine-race maiden Lord Byron is officially the highest-rated horse in the lineup after finishing in the frame at all the big spring Festivals last season.
The hat-trick seeking Cosmic Connection won at this track over 2m last season before signing off his campaign winning the bet365 Novices’ Championship Final Handicap Hurdle at Sandown Park off top-weight.
Champion Trainer Dan Skelton will be heavily represented at Chepstow this weekend and will rely on North Shore to hand him a first win in this race. The 4-year-old will make his stable debut for Skelton in this after leaving Gavin Cromwell's yard in Ireland, for whom he shed his maiden tag over hurdles last time out.
There has been just one Irish-trained winner of this contest this century. There are three Irish runners declared for this year’s renewal including Paul Nolan’s Le Moulin Rouge and Henry de Bromhead’s La Cote Fleurie.
The former is lightly-raced and goes well fresh as he showed when opening his account over hurdles in April. The latter is bidding for her third straight career success over hurdles as she steps up in class.
The other highlight contest on the card this Friday is the DragonBet ‘Welsh Champion’ Hurdle worth £50,000 and run over 2m which has attracted a field of 17 runners.
The Sam Thomas/Dai Walters combination are looking to achieve a third consecutive win in this race after winning it in 2024 with Lump Sum and 2025 with Celtic Dino. This year they are represented by Doctor Blue who has had wind surgery over the summer.
Ante-post favourite Captain Hugo enjoyed a productive first season over hurdles in which the highlight was his win in the bet365 Morebattle Hurdle, before his runner-up effort in the Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle.
Le Beau Madrik registered three victories over hurdles last season as a novice, including on his final start when winning over 2m5f at Haydock Park by 15 lengths. This is the first time he has run over the minimum trip for Dan Skelton who is also represented by Knickerbockerglory,Listentoyourheart and Kateira.
Gibbs Island won over this distance at this meeting for RaceShare last year, and despite struggling during the remainder of the season he is now back down to the mark he won off here 12 months ago.
Top-weight Laafi went close to landing a big handicap during the summer when beaten a neck into second in the Pertemps Network Swinton Handicap Hurdle. He crossed the line first in a competitive handicap hurdle at Aintree’s Grand National Festival back in April, but was subsequently disqualified due to his rider’s misuse of the whip.
