The Coral Welsh Grand National 2025: Sam Thomas eyes victory with two runners
Sam Thomas is no stranger to success when it comes to his country’s biggest race, the Coral Welsh Grand National, having won it back in 2021, with Iwilldoit. This year, he is aiming to repeat the feat with two runners in the marathon contest courtesy of Jubilee Express and Shomen Uchi who are both owned by local businessman Dai Walters.
The former Gold Cup-winning jockey trains just 30 miles away from Chepstow and has a strong affinity with the race, which stars as one of the major highlights of the jumps season.
Thomas said: “We’re very proud Welshmen, being on the doorstep feels that bit more special. We love going to Chepstow and having runners; we’ve had a nice bit of success there over the years.”
He landed his first major success after taking out a training license in this race four years ago when the Diamond Racing-owned Iwilldoit ran on strongly under Stan Sheppard to win by nine-lengths. Thomas admits it would be “mega” to repeat the feat.
He commented: “It (Iwilldoit) was very special for a few reasons. Stan Brown, the owner and breeder, gave me my first winner as a jockey. It was very special to be able to repay him and his family with such a success. He leased the horse to Diamond Racing, so on the day, they got to really experience the ownership feel of such a big race.”
Just as Iwilldoit did in 2021, ante-post favourite Jubilee Express was an impressive winner of the trial for the Welsh National at the start of this month. That was a notable victory and the 8-year-old is set to carry a featherweight in the 3m6½f contest on December 27th.
Thomas added: “He’s one of those big, burly horses and takes so much work. There’s definitely more to come, especially as he’s now a bit more battle-hardened and has been in some bigger races; he knows what to expect. I think that goes a long way when you’re going into these big races, they are well prepared and know what’s about to happen.”
Stablemate Shomen Uchi has been extremely lightly-raced for an 8-year-old with just the seven career starts and only two of those over fences.
He made a pleasing seasonal comeback when fourth behind Top Of The Bill at Haydock Park.
Thomas said: “Shomen Uchi is a very different horse, a little bit classier, than Jubilee Express. He’s always been held in high regard by all of us here. He’s been very fragile throughout the years, so he hasn’t had much racing, but what we’ve seen of him on the track has been good, and he comes into the race with a completely different profile than Jubilee Express. If he can align all the stars on the day, he could be a league above the other horse, but it’s a big unknown, having not had much racing.”
Stable jockey Dylan Johnston is a rising star of the National Hunt scene and admits he has a tough decision to face as to which of the two he will ride.
Johnston said: “It’s a tricky one. You just have to go with your gut, and I’ve just put off really thinking about it at the moment. We’ll take Sam’s input, and my agent will be sharp on form. It’s a real tricky one, and I always think the real top lads never seem to get it wrong. I don’t want to get it wrong too often, or I’ll be down the pecking order.”
Whichever horse he decides to ride, Johnston admits it would be a victory that would be very special to him as a local jockey.
He added: “Winning on the big days at your local track, it’s your turf, isn’t it? It would mean everything to them (connections), and it would mean everything to me, too. It’s a race, growing up, I remember going to Leopardstown as a kid, it would always coming up on the big screen, the Welsh National. It would be a lovely one to tick off.”
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