THE dust has now settled on our opening meeting of the winter jump racing season.

More than 10,000 people attended the two-day fixture last weekend and I hope local hotels, B&Bs, pubs and restaurants had a good trading weekend thanks to these customers being in the area.

The crowd included 2,700 students from universities in Cardiff, Bristol and Swansea, most of whom were experiencing horse racing for the first time. It was part of a new initiative where courses all over the country are trying to attract more young people to their venues.

Their attendance created a tremendous atmosphere and we hope they will return for future race meetings.

Sky Sports Racing sent their lead presenter Alex Hammond down to cover the meeting and because of the quality of the horses on display, Chepstow would have been seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers. Olympic show jumping gold medallist Nick Skelton was also at the track to support his son Dan, who trained the winner of one of the big races.

The Welsh racing bandwagon now rolls on to Ffos Las for this Saturday’s fixture, Gentleman’s Day, featuring the Low Cost Vans Welsh Champion Hurdle.

Despite more then 240mm of rain falling recently, the course is in excellent condition and ready for the first jump meeting since July.

There are plenty of other activities, including dodgems, fun casino tables, laser clay shooting and a rodeo horse. After racing there’s live music from John Adams and his band. First race is 1.50pm.

The same day, the course is remembering one of the most famous racehorses to come from Carmarthenshire. A race is being named after Norton’s Coin who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1990 at odds of 100-1 for his farmer, owner/trainer Sirrell Griffiths.

The ‘Norton’s Coin Cup Novices’ Chase’ is one of seven races on the card.

Finally, Chepstow and Ffos Las Racecourses are launching a Racing Club this month and will have a horse in training this winter. The five-year-old gelding, Baboin, will be under the care of Vale of Glamorgan trainer Tim Vaughan.

The horse, formerly trained in Ireland by Joseph O’Brien, has run nine times winning once and being placed on four other occasions. The club is aimed at anyone who would like to experience the thrill of racehorse ownership at a competitive introductory price.

For more information, contact Martin Higgs on 07831 752056 or e-mail, martinhiggsracing@gmail.com