DragonBet Welsh Racing Festival - Chepstow - Day 1 10/10/25

The DragonBet promotions unit had worked hard to get the word out about the inaugural DragonBet Welsh Racing Festival and it appeared to have paid off. There was an excellent atmosphere around Chepstow today, with plenty of faces in evidence in the betting ring and competitive racing out on the turf for the eight race card. There was an excellent atmosphere all afternoon, which is particularly stiff upper lip stuff from the bookmakers given the results they endured. There were 42 pitches occupied today which is a fair number for a Friday but I'm guessing they'd seen all the sponsor's advertising and thought they better give it a go. I'm guessing it was a gamble that didn't pay off for those in the poorer pitches but it was a lovely day so despite not taking many bets I'm sure all but the most miserable wouldn't have regretted coming. 

DragonBet had two pitches on the rail with the Johns, Dan and Lee taking the bets and paying out, paying out being the operative couple of words. The first race, the Wasdell Group Novices' Hurdle went to Fergal O'Brien's 3/1 chance Frontier Prince, tipped up by The Racing Blogger in the preview, it must have been good thing to still win, sorry Blogger, the DragonBet rails team did £726 in a slow heat. They did even worse in the second division when they blew  £3600 after Masked Man bolted up at 7/4 having been 2/1 which was a costly loss, it seemed everyone wanted to be on and got it right. 

Friend of DragonBet Andrew Lowrie of Optimum Racing tipped up Somespring Special to his clients in the third heat the Steve And Scott Half Centuries Mares' Handicap Chase which would have pleased subscribers as she won easily, but probably not the bookmakers so much. There was 10/3 on offer with the sponsors at the off, the winner returned 3/1, was a loser in the DragonBet book but only lost a generous round of drinks, £168. It was only lent, the good guys got it all back in the DragonBet Veterans' Handicap Chase which put them back in the game. 6/1 chance Hang In There trained by Emma Lavelle winning at 6/1 beat the jolly the well backed Courtland. I heard a story that the absent owners, watching the race from a hotel room screamed their horse home so loudly that shortly after the race the manager flanked by security knocked on the door to see if all was well. It wasn't so well again after the feature DragonBet Persian War Novices' Hurdle where 15/2 chance Sticktotheplan won from 20/1 chance Kainsbourg. Professional punter Alan Potts fancied the runner-up and made a good case for him but was put off by the drift given the connections. Two out it looked as if JP's horse was going to win, but was overhauled by the winner. I assumed it would be good news from the DragonBet pitch, but no, they'd done their dough blowing £1095. 

Just three went to post for the dragonbet.co.uk 'Chasing Excellence' Novices' Chase in which the 11/10 favourite Coco Mademoiselle justified being market leader. Having said that, anyone that backed the winner should reinvest their lucky winnings in another gambling investment as Art Of Diplomacy would surely have won had he not fallen at the last. The would have been good news for the bookmaker up the rail that last the £6000 - £2000 the faller but DragonBet did their dough to the tune of £2706. There was a mighty gamble landed in the penultimate David Pipe Racing Handicap Hurdle which was probably fitting given the number of touches landed masterminded in Pond House. Nicky Martin's Got A Dream had been 16/1 last night and 6/1 on the course then backed down to 11/4 favourite before obliging in style. Anticipating bollocks have being done I asked the win or lose question with trepidation at the DragonBet joint. John beamed at me, which was reassuring and told me they'd copped £2500 on the race which left them just shy of £800 down on the day, which given the results was, well, a result. The lucky last was the Christian Williams Racing Supporting Childhood Cancer Mares' Handicap Hurdle which went to Joe Tizzard's 7/2 chance Sweet Caryline. It had turned for the DragonBet teams on the rail, they copped £2800 over the winner which was really more than their whack and ended the day winning £2000 which wasn't a bad get out. Tomorrow it gets busier.

Simon Nott

DragonBet are an independent family firm, born from the betting ring with an expanding portfolio of pitches across the country. Their aim is to carry over the timeless and old fashioned values of betting on-course into the on-line world. With a healthy appetite for risk and an ethos of putting customer service at the forefront of their operation I'd recommend give them a spin and taking them on. Bet £20 and Get £20 via the link below.

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