There are plenty of Christmas races for fans of the jumping game in the coming days and, as always, the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow promises to be one of the highlights.
The three-quarter mile marathon was recently won by Gold Cup winners Synchronized and Native River.
Nassalam will not attempt to win consecutive editions after links ruled him out of the 11th editionTh It'll take an hour, but the Monmouthshire venue will be home to a stellar field for the biggest date in Welsh show jumping.
We have selected two runners to consider for the Welsh Grand National on Friday 27th December at 2.50pmTh with live coverage on ITV Racing.
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Welsh Grand National tips
- Atlanta Brave in every way – 25/1
- Val Dancer in both directions – 25/1
Monbeg Genius for Jonjo & AJ O'Neill is likely to win due to preference with Dan Skelton's mare Galia Des Liteaux.
The former finished second to Fontaine Collonges at Hereford last time out, but has a perfect 3-3 record at Chepstow, including two novice wins over Fences in early 2023.
Mare Galia Des Liteaux may not have come home at the Grand National at Aintree in the spring when she finished eighth after a good ride. She has two good runs this season at Carlisle (2m4f) and Newbury (3m2f) and her second place in the Classic Chase at Warwick in January suggests that trip and soft ground are within reach.
From a mark of 123 there could still be some mileage left ATLANTA BRAVE for coach Kerry Lee.
He won his first hurdle race here in January 2023 on soft ground in his only track start. His best run over fences last season saw him finish second at Newbury (3m2f, soft) between Christmas and New Year, beating Surrey Quest, who later finished second in the Scottish National under trainer Toby Lawes. This rival ran well again on his comeback at Cheltenham with a score of 137.
Atlanta Brave, on the other hand, was recruited in October after returning from a break in the Cotswolds, but has since done well in a small-field novice contest at Uttoxeter (3m, soft), where he did much of the mileage.
He has some ideas of his own at times, but is not yet known as a complete stander and will play a minor role here.
Mel Rowley has made some good progress since acquiring her training license in 2021 and the Shropshire-based handler has been impressive VAL DANCER I'm running a large project in Chepstow.
He has four wins out of seven fencing victories and a record of 311133-1 in the field. His best form brings with it a lot of give underfoot, so the conditions here will be to his liking.
On his season return at Carlisle (3m2f, fair to poor) he showed every stamina to beat Snipe in the game and win a valuable Grade 3 competition. He's now up 5 pounds in weight, but that mindset will stand him in good stead here and the extra half mile might be within his reach as well.
*All odds were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change
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