I WAS at Ffos Las Racecourse on Sunday for the Countryside Raceday.

I was able to take a bit more of a back seat than I have done since our parent company bought the Carmarthenshire track. We’ve recruited a good team down at Chepstow’s sister course, and this was the first meeting in charge for new general manager Simon Rowlands. Simon had previously done a great job as catering manager at Chepstow.

Another new appointment is Kevin Hire, who will be business manager across Chepstow and Ffos Las. Kevin has joined us from Nation Broadcasting where he was sales director for Radio Pembrokeshire. Previously he worked in newspapers for the Newsquest group. He’s a keen sporting fan, particularly rugby, and has been a regular visitor at the races over the years. His job will be very much an ‘out and about’ role and will involve developing new business relationships for both courses across South Wales, so you will see him representing the courses at events across the region.

Colin Tizzard was the trainer in form at Ffos Las. He had a treble on the day and also had another two winners at Sandown Racecourse. His highest profile winner of the day was Elegant Escape which won the Future Stars Intermediate Chase at Sandown and is now favourite for the prestigious Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury on 1st December.

Elegant Escape is a horse that we have followed because, like several of his illustrious stablemates, his career with Colin Tizzard really began at Chepstow. Subsequent superstars for the same trainer Cue Card, Native River, Thistlecrack and Finian’s Oscar all had early hurdle or chase wins at Chepstow, so it pays to watch which horses Colin Tizzard sends to run in our novice hurdles or chases! Elegant Escape won his first start over hurdles at Chepstow in 2016 and returned for our Jump Season Opener meeting last year for his first chase start when he was beaten into second.

His Sandown win was his finest moment so far. The race is contested by the very best young horses and last year was won by subsequent Gold Cup runner-up Might Bite. The Ladbrokes Trophy, which is his next target, was won in 2016 by his stablemate, Coral Welsh Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Native River. He has a similar profile to Native River and this performance has earned him comparison with the current Gold Cup joint favourite, so he is certainly one to follow.

There have also been a few clues for the Coral Welsh Grand National this week. Our jockey ambassador Richard Johnson was second behind Elegant Escape on Thomas Patrick, a horse held in the highest regard by his trainer Tom Lacey. He has been talked about as a future Welsh National horse. Richard Johnson was also in the saddle when Looksnowtlikebrian won at Carlisle last week for Tim Vaughan. He tells us that this horse’s owners dream of winning the Welsh National, so hopefully we’ll see both of these horses on the list when the first stage of entries take place next week for our feature race.

Our next race meeting takes place on Wednesday, 21st November. On Thursday 22nd we stage the inaugural Welsh Horseracing Awards – details can be found on the website www.chepstow-racecourse.co.uk.