Haiti Couleurs (photographed) proved the doubters wrong by claiming Grade 1 glory in Ireland – and in doing so provided Welsh racing with one of its finest moments of recent years.
Rebecca Curtis’ stable star produced a gutsy, determined display to win the Champion Chase at Down Royal on Saturday, a race which honoured three-time winner Envoi Allen.
Haiti Couleurs has emerged as a real favourite among the racing public in the past two years, capturing the imagination with front-running efforts which earned him victory in the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse in April 2025 and then the Welsh version at Chepstow eight months later.
But he has twice fallen short at the top level, being pulled up in last year’s Betfair Chase and then again in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.
He was sent off at 8-1 at Down Royal in his bid to make it third time lucky. He again led from the front but looked in trouble when jockey Paul Townend began to scrub along around a mile from home. But Haiti Couleurs lacks nothing in spirit, and he kept finding more on the long run for home, repelling challengers one by one and eventually seeing off runner-up Fleur in the Park by almost five lengths. Banbridge, a former winner of the
King George at Kempton, was back in third.
The victory rounded off a superb week for Welsh racing.
Dai Walters walked away a winner on the day Ffos Las honoured the man who turned the dream of top-class racing in Carmarthenshire into reality.
Last week’s meeting at the track staged the inaugural running of the Dai Walters Trophy, named after the prominent businessman whose vision and ambition helped turn a former opencast site into Wales’ third racecourse when it opened its doors in the summer of 2009.
Walters, fittingly, had a runner in the race, though Just Over Land faded into third despite moving into a threatening position early in the home straight. The two-and-half mile contest went the way of the Jay Tibdall-ridden Toothless.
But by that time Walters had already bagged a winner. The victory came courtesy of Doctor Kildare in a staying chase, though for a while it looked unlikely as Muskoka held a slender advantage in the final straight.
But a more fluent leap at the final fence propelled Doctor Kildare into the lead, and Dylan Johnston pushed him clear on the run-in to post a two-and-three-quarter length success.
The home team had already made their mark thanks to Cath Williams, who saw Headofthevalley take a novice hurdle in the familiar colours of the Rucker family.
Joe Tizzard claimed a four-timer at the previous Ffos Las meeting, and he maintained his excellent run of form when Ugo Bingo ran out a comfortable winner of the 2m 4f handicap hurdle. It was the first leg of a double for owner John Romans, whose Verney Fox stretched out in fine style to take the bumper by a wide margin.
The next meeting at Ffos Las is this Sunday 8th November.
Uttoxeter’s card on Friday was dominated by Welsh jockeys. Sean Bowen teamed up with Olly Murphy to win four of the seven races on warm favourites – the longest-priced of the quartet was sent off at evens – with Jack Tudor chipping in with a double on Las Canals and Nevershedatear.
Bowen was on duty at Wetherby on Saturday, so missing the ride on Haiti Couleurs, but he had the consolation of winning the valuable West Yorkshire Hurdle on Strong Leader for the second year running.
