Horses To Follow 2026/27: Five Takeaways From The Welsh Racing Festival at Chepstow

The recent Welsh Racing Festival at Chepstow delivered an action-packed weekend of high-quality jumps racing. 

Our horse racing expert Steven Mullington highlights five horses to take away from the fixture:

Pioneer Pete

• Race: Welsh Champion Hurdle
• Trainer / Jockey: Jonjo & A J O’Neill / Jonjo O’Neill Jr

Pioneer Pete put up a tenacious front-running display to land the Welsh Champion Hurdle.

Sent off as the 3/1 favourite in our horse racing betting, he skipped clear over the final few hurdles to score comfortably. He clearly loves front-running tactics and looks like a progressive handicapper who should be involved in many more finishes this season.

The O’Neill’s, plus owners, Furlong Friends, will look to capitalise on his current peak form, having now won three of his last four races. You would like to think carefully selected graded novice chases will be in the pipeline too.

West Hill Verde

• Race: Grade 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle
• Trainer / Jockey: Seamus Mullins / Callum Pritchard

The six-year-old West Hill Verde landed his first career in Wales.

The gelding struck the front approaching two out and rallied gamely on the flat when challenged to score at odds of 16/1. The Persian War historically produces decent horses so he should stay competitive as the season progresses.

Daylatedollarshort

• Race: Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle
• Trainer / Jockey: Olly Murphy / Sean Bowen

Ridden by Sean Bowen, this five-year-old took the highly coveted Silver Trophy at odds of 4/1.

He made smooth progress and kept on excellently to win by over two lengths. Trainer Olly Murphy has a wonderful record at this meeting, and this horse looks primed for bigger things.

Mwabani

• Race: EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle
• Trainer / Jockey: Jane Williams / Ciaran Gethings

The four-year-old gelding by Masked Marvel made all the running to land this novice hurdle.

Jane Williams’ youngster dug deep and ran on strongly to score by almost five lengths on the day. There will be further improvement to come with him over longer distances in this particular sphere.

Onefournine

• Race: McCarthy Construction Mares’ Handicap Hurdle
• Trainer / Jockey: Jonjo & A J O’Neill / Jonjo O’Neill Jr

The talented six-year-old bay mare delivered a flawless performance on Saturday, showing some real grit to justify her favourite tag in our sports betting.

Entering the race with an Official Rating of 115, the win marked her third career victory and after a handicapper reassessment, she has the potential to step up to Class 3 company next.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*