Eva’s Oskar Among the Welsh Hopefuls for Aintree

Despite a rich history in horse racing as a whole, Welsh runners do not enjoy a great deal of success at the National Hunt’s showpiece event. On Saturday, April 15th, the 2023 edition of the Grand National will get underway, but can any local hopefuls reverse that trend?
Among a strong field, there are two Welsh runners listed to compete, so who will be the main threat to the favourites?

Leading the Way

The two local runners in question are Eva’s Oskar and Secret Reprieve. The latter is looking for withdrawals in order to guarantee a starting berth.
The pair will need to beat more fancied entries at the top of the list. Current horse racing bets are focusing on the favourite Corach Rambler at 11/2, together with Noble Yeats who won here last year and is quoted at 8/1.
The two Welsh runners are much further down the field. Eva’s Oskar is at 66/1 while Paddy Power Grand National odds have Secret Reprieve out at 100/1. Those figures underline the size of the task in front of them, but there have been many surprise winners of this race. Could either of these two Welsh runners upset the field in 2023?

Eva’s Hope

Eva’s Oskar is a nine-year-old horse trained by Tim Vaughan who is based in Cowbridge. As this runner approaches the 2023 Grand National, he will be racing for the 28th time in his career.
Of those previous 27 outings, Eva’s Oskar has won seven races, while finishing inside the top three on 13 occasions overall. Those could be encouraging statistics for each way backers at the very least.
This year, two previous runs have seen the horse finish in sixth and fourth respectively. Eva’s Oskar’s most recent win came at Cheltenham last December, and that performance helped Vaughan’s mount to make the cut for this year’s Aintree Grand National, as covered by Yahoo.
The horse now heads to Liverpool with a respectable record across his career, but this is a tough race and Eva’s Oskar will need to turn in a special performance.

Best Kept Secret

Unlike Eva’s Oskar, Secret Reprieve is not yet guaranteed a slot in the Grand National field. This horse is relying on withdrawals, but there can be frequent changes to the final declaration and it’s worth looking at his record.
Secret Reprieve is another nine-year-old and he’s trained by Llancarfan’s Evan Williams. This horse has previously been over the jumps on 15 occasions and he’s won three times. Secret Reprieve has finished inside the top three in seven of those 15 runs.
It’s a weaker record and one that has seen Williams’ mount put on standby for Aintree. There has, however, been a notable success in Secret Reprieve’s career. In 2021, jockey Adam Wedge steered this horse to victory in the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow, as can be seen in The Guardian’s report.
The long history of the Aintree Grand National has taught us that nothing is impossible. Both Welsh hopefuls are outsiders in 2023, but neither should be ruled ou