Royalty, bombers and racing fairytales – Chepstow at 100Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Chepstow Racecourse was created on land bought from the Piercefield Park estateByDylan Mohammad-Smart, BBC Sport Wales and Matt LloydPublished4 minutes agoIt came close to closing within months of first opening, was transformed into an RAF base during World War Two and has staged various music concerts, but this month marks a century of horse racing at Chepstow Racecourse.The track was the brainchild of 10 local dignitaries who put their money together to purchase 370 undulating acres of picturesque Monmouthsire parkland.Since opening its doors to about 20,000 spectators in August 1926 for its inaugural meeting, Chepstow has welcomed royalty, Wellington bombers and musicians including Tom Jones.It has also hosted the richest race in Wales – the Welsh Grand National – for more than 70 years.BBC Sport Wales recalls the major events at the south east Wales venue, where new milestones continue to be set.Lords Tredegar, Glanely and Queenborough helped pay for the near-two-mile course on what was Piercefield Park.Lord Harewood’s Conca D’Oro won that first race a century ago before the first jumps meeting held a year later.Financial concerns almost saw the course fail to survive the first 10 years before steadily establishing itself one of only a handful of courses that hosts both flat and jumps action all year round.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Hastings Clay (director), Sir David Hughes Morgan (chairman), Captain A W Wingate (secretary and manager) from Chepstow Racecourse Company and R G Nichols C B E of the Great Eastern Railway Line oversee the course being builtFormer Welsh jump jockey Alan Johns says the course has wide appeal among riders.”Unanimously, Chepstow is loved by jockeys,” he mentioned.”It’s what we call a big galloping track so it has really long straights, big sweeping bends and generally that means the best horse wins.”It probably has the the nicest fences in Britain, horses tend to jump very well here.”The Aintree Grand National, the Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Welsh Grand National would be in that sort of breath.”History and HollywoodMemorable Chepstow moments have included the Welsh Grand National winner that inspired a Hollywood film, a jockey’s world record 12 consecutive wins and another home-favourite winner of the Welsh National.No rider has managed to match the achievements of champion jockey Sir Gordon Richards who, in October 1933, followed victory in Nottingham with six out of six the next day in Chepstow before adding five more a day later at the same meeting. That run of 12 wins remains a world record., external
But perhaps the biggest fairytale was the remarkable return from injury of Dream Alliance, a horse raised on an allotment near Blackwood by Janet Vokes and owned by a syndicate of friends all paying £10 a week.
In 2008, the horse suffered a severed leg tendon, an injury that under many owners might have led to a horse being put down. But the syndicate refused to give up, paying £20,000 for pioneering stem-cell treatment.
Dream Alliance returned to action and repaid their faith as jockey Tom O’Brien rode the then eight-year-old to Welsh Grand National glory in 2009 at odds of 20-1.
The story was perfect for Hollywood, with Dream Horse released in 2021 starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis.
