AFTER several weeks approaching various agents, we have secured a major artist to play live after racing at Chepstow on Saturday, 6th June next year.

James Arthur will follow in the footsteps of Tom Jones, Madness, Simply Red and UB40, who have previously entertained customers at our summer race meetings.

His debut single ‘Impossible’ reached number one and went on to sell over 1.4 million copies in the UK. After surpassing a staggering 1 billion streams, James Arthur’s song “Say You Won’t Let Go” has now sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

In addition, his album “Back From The Edge” went straight to No.1 in the UK charts and has now gone multi-platinum worldwide.

Tickets will be available for pre-sale via Ticketmaster at 10am on Friday, 13 December, followed by general sale on Friday, 3 January directly from the racecourse.

Welsh horse racing continues in great form.

Vale of Glamorgan-based Evan Williams, the recent winner of Trainer of the Year at the Welsh Horse Racing Awards, had a double at Sandown on Saturday with Esprit Du Large and Mack The Man. Both horses were ridden by Adam Wedge, who was recording his first Grade One victory on Esprit Du Large. And to complete the story, both horses are owned by William Rucker, a major supporter of the Williams yard.

On the same card, trainer Tim Vaughan was also on the scoresheet with Oriental Cross, the mount of Alan Johns who has now ridden 20 winners this season.

At Chepstow on Saturday, young Welsh jockey Jack Tudor rode a double on Potters Corner and the 50-1 chance Nightboattoclyro. Potters Corner, who took the handicap hurdle, is trained by Christian Williams at Ogmore by Sea and is part owned by Welsh rugby international Jonathan Davies.

The nine-year-old gelding won the Chaser of the Year category at the Welsh Horse Racing Awards and is entered in this year’s Coral Welsh Grand National. Earlier this year he won the Midlands National at Uttoxeter.

Life for 20-year-old Welsh jockey Ben Jones could hardly be any better. He’s moved on to 26 winners for the season and last week had another success for trainer Emma Lavelle when Belle Empress won at Exeter. The pair teamed up to win the prestigious Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury recently.

We are now just two weeks away from the big day of the year at Chepstow, the £150,000 Coral Welsh Grand National on Friday, 27th December. Native River, the winner in 2016, is still being aimed at the race by trainer Colin Tizzard. The horse made a winning seasonal re-appearance at Aintree last Saturday ridden by champion jockey and Chepstow Racecourse ambassador Richard Johnson.

Tickets are priced from £27 in advance with 17 and unders going free of charge. Hospitality starts from £119 per head including VAT. All the details are on the website.

We are delighted that international opera stars Sir Bryn Terfel and Rebecca Evans will be singing the national anthem before the big race.