If Welsh rugby is on its uppers the same can’t be said about the country’s racing fortunes, a point that could be made with a vengeance should Haiti Couleurs land Friday’s Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The last time a horse trained in Wales won steeplechasing’s most coveted prize was in 1990. The circumstances seemed quaint then and feel almost twee now.
Sirrell Griffiths only ran Nortons Coin because he forgot to enter him for a handicap. Sure enough, the horse trained in west Wales by an obscure dairy farmer somehow won the greatest prize of all at 100-1. Desert Orchid could finish only third.
There’s no such unlikely romance surrounding Haiti Couleurs. He’s ridden by Britain’s champion jockey Sean Bowen and trained by Rebecca Curtis, a six-time festival winner already. Nevertheless, the story has its own distinctive element that’s hard to resist.
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Much of it is geographic. Curtis is based on the Pembrokeshire coastline of west Wales. Location wise, it’s a racing outpost. As the crow flies, Wexford racecourse isn’t much further away than Ffos Las. Getting to any other track is a trek.
But it’s from here that Curtis, 45, has moulded the career of a horse that a year ago emerged on top in the marathon National Hunt Chase at the festival. A month later she took Haiti Couleurs across the Irish Sea to land the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse.
It was a plucky move. Many of Curtis’s colleagues tend to avoid taking on the Irish powerhouses in their own backyard. But the strapping gelding won so impressively that talk of a future Gold Cup campaign didn’t sound far-fetched.
“It was amazing because we always whinge that the Irish come over here and beat us all the time, so I think going over there and doing it on their own doorstep, people loved it,” she said.
“I do actually think the Irish like horses coming over and giving good competition and Haiti has always been quite a popular horse. I think because of the way he races as well, there’s something about him and his colours. He puts everything into it,” Curtis added.
A win over hurdles kicked off this season only for a serious bump in the road at Haydock in November’s Betfair Cup after the free-going star barely raised a gallop. It looked too bad to be true, and it was. A back problem was diagnosed and sorted out before another ‘National’ tilt.
The immensely likable horse carried topweight in the Welsh National at Chepstow and dominated throughout. It completed a rare ‘National’ hat-trick for Curtis, who had also won the 2018 Scottish Grand National with Joe Farrell in 2018. Teaforthree finished third for her at Aintree in 2013.
Since Chepstow, Curtis has kept her stable star ticking over with a Newbury victory last month and even the elements feel like they’re playing ball with forecast rain likely to put a premium on Haiti Couleurs’ proven stamina.
All of it represents a rejuvenation in Curtis’s fortunes. Still training on the dairy farm where she grew up, her racing grounding included assisting nearby trainer Peter Bowen. The task sometimes included babysitting her Gold Cup jockey, and his brother James.
Her own training career started in 2008 and was quickly successful with Teaforthree successful at the 2012 festival. Lisnagar Oscar landed the 2020 Stayers’ Hurdle at 50-1. A dip in fortunes followed but it is one she has emerged from, with the help of her partner, the former Ospreys and Wales Under-21 rugby player David Bishop.
Now with almost 40 horses in her care, Curtis is at the forefront of British hopes of a first Gold Cup success since 2018. That was Native River, another stout stayer with a Welsh National success to his name.
“I think the race will really suit him. He seems to love Cheltenham. He’s won twice around there already. I just think he’s got everything you need for a Gold Cup,” said the trainer.
“He travels strongly, he jumps well, and I do think you need a real stayer for the Gold Cup, three miles and two and a half furlongs, a big hill finish, and go an end-to-end gallop. So yeah, we’ll see, I think he’s got all the right credentials for it.”
It’s a case for victory a lot more convincing than the one for Wales’ rugby team to overcome Italy in their Six Nations clash in Cardiff just over 24 hours later.
