WELSH wizard Christian Williams conjured up a magic one-two in the Scottish Grand National… and then promised to drink the course dry.
His Win My Wings cruised to an easy win with admirable stablemate Kitty’s Light chasing the mare home to spark wild celebrations.
Williams and James celebrate their easy win in the Scottish Grand National
A sold-out crowd of 15,000 made their way to Ayr for the Scottish Grand National
A year’s long plan came good in style as the 830 mile round-trip from Bridgend in Wales paid off by the bucket load. And the £115,000 winnings will do more than pay for the petrol home.
“We’ve already had a party this weekend so who knows what tonight will be like,” the former jockey laughed.
You could pick the winner out as the field turned for home. The 13-2 shot cruised into the lead for Irish amateur Rob James who was claiming seven pounds.
The weight allowance made no difference at all as she pinged the remaining four fences well clear from the chasing pack.
Sensational from the mare!
Win My Wings storms to victory in the Coral Scottish Grand National Handicap Chase
#ITVRacing pic.twitter.com/QW5FObdjt4
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) April 2, 2022
Kitty’s Light, ridden by Jack Tudor, was nearly brought down at the third last and might have finished closer than the seven lengths but for that incident.
But Win My Wings was in a league of her own here and clearly none the worse for her similarly easy Eider Chase win at the end of February.
Williams smiled: “We were nervous coming here as we thought we had two horses we thought could come here and win the race. So we’d put some pressure on ourselves!
“You’re supposed to enjoy days like this but we’d put lots of pressure on so it’s great.
“They’re two great horses and were ridden by two brilliant jockeys.
“We brought a lot of staff up too, I just wish we could have brought everyone. We’ll celebrate in style tonight, but we’ll do something for everyone when we’re back too.”
Williams brought up four horses to Ayr and they made their mark with Stringtoyourbow winning a handicap hurdle in style on Friday.
Whatever is in the water in Wales where Williams trains on the beach is certainly doing the trick.
He joked: “We can’t give too much away! But look, we just train on the sand and bring them on quietly, we look after their careers.
“Win My Wings is nine and only just showing her best now, thankfully her owners have let me do that.
“We always knew she was a good mare, we took her to France last year and she beat one of their best over two miles on their ground.
“But she’s been wonderful and just needs a bit of nice ground, she struggles when it’s heavy, but she’s matured now and was ready for today.
“I feel sorry for Kitty’s having to run against her today. They might both go to Sandown next for the Bet365 Gold Cup. Kitty has got time on his hands, he’s only six!”
Williams definitely has the best hair in the training ranks but might now argue he’s top of the charts when it comes to training staying chasers too.
