Less than two years after becoming Britain’s first new turf racecourse to open in more than seventy years, Ffos Las hosts the inaugural William Hill Welsh Champion hurdle tomorrow. This represents the biggest day in the Carmarthenshire racecourse’s short history, writes Paul Moon.
You will not find Ffos Las (blue ditch) on any map as there is no such place: it lies between the old mining villages of Trimsaran and Carway and was named after the farm that once occupied the site. Twelve years ago the course was the deepest coal mine in Europe!
The Welsh Champion Hurdle has been revived and given the kiss of life by Ffos Las Racecourse. Before its deterioration this was a listed event run at Chepstow, but for whatever reason the administration there allowed the race to wither then perish. It became an ordinary Class 2 handicap giving rise to greater quantity at the expense of quality! At its new venue, it is to be hoped that the race’s former eminence and lustre will be restored with added relevance and value, seeing as the timing will now render this a meaningful Cheltenham Champion Hurdle trial.
Ffos Las is ideally equipped to stage the Welsh Champion Hurdle, and has a determination to increase its appeal. After losing the race last year because of freezing weather conditions everything looks set fair for tomorrow at 2:40, when a select quintet of runners will take their chances. Belatedly and to add a bit of glamour, Channel 4 will make their first ever live visit to the track.
Speaking to Public Relations Manager, Kate Miller of William Hill, during the week, she told us:
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