Jump racing was held near Chepstow off and on from at least as early as 1826 until 1914, latterly around Oakgrove and St Arvans.
Racing began at the present Chepstow course in 1926, when it was laid out in the grounds of the Piercefield Park estate. The owner, racing fan Henry Hastings Clay, gathered a group of the great and the good (and the wealthy) of South Wales willing to invest in a new track even though there were already courses at Cardiff, Caerleon, Monmouth and Tenby.
Chepstow, however, was going to be different; it would be built on a grand scale. But, as often happens with large projects, unforeseen problems and expenses arise. The cost had risen to £150,000 (roughly £8 million in today’s money) by 9 August 1926, when a huge crowd turned up for the first meeting.
That early financial strain limited the Chepstow management’s ability to stage big races although Welsh Derbys, Oaks and St Legers featured briefly on the programme before World War II. The most notable event on course in that period was in 1933, when 26-time champion jockey Gordon Richards rode eleven consecutive winners here. After takng the last race at Nottingham the day before a two-day Chepstow fixture, he won all six races on the first day and the first five winners on the second, only to be beaten in the finale on an odds-on shot.
In 1949 the closures of Cardiff and Caerleon meant Chepstow became the venue for the Welsh Grand National, which was first run in 1895.
From the 1960s the building of the M4 and the first Severn Bridge made Chepstow easily accessible for all the trainers in the southwest and as far east as Lambourn. These yards regularly bring their promising novices to run at Chepstow before going on to better things.
The immortal Desert Orchid ran here without winning, but in more recent times great Cue Card and Altior have won here.
Many high-class horses have won the Coral Welsh Grand National en route to future Aintree National and Cheltenham Gold Cup success, the latest being Native River in 2016. One of Welsh sport’s premier annual events, it is well established as the biggest race on the day just after Christmas and is one of the busiest betting races of the year.
