Rebecca Curtis: the Pembrokeshire trainer behind a National treble

Last updated 10 September 2026. Career record verified against published racing sources.

Rebecca Curtis trains on the Pembrokeshire coast, about as far from the sport’s centre of gravity as it is possible to get in Britain, and in 2025 she pulled off a season no Welsh yard had managed before.

The facts

The National treble

Haiti Couleurs won the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, the Irish Grand National and the Welsh Grand National inside the same calendar year. Three of the biggest staying chases in these islands, one horse, one season.

Sean Bowen rode him for all of it, which made it a Pembrokeshire clean sweep: a Pembrokeshire yard, a Pembrokeshire jockey, and the Welsh leg won at Chepstow on 27 December.

Haiti Couleurs went on to line up in the 2026 Grand National off a mark of 11st 10lb, one of the better-fancied runners in the field.

Why the treble is hard

The three races Haiti Couleurs won in 2025 are separated by distance, ground and season. The National Hunt Chase comes at the Cheltenham Festival in March on spring ground. The Irish Grand National is Easter Monday at Fairyhouse. The Welsh Grand National is 27 December on midwinter ground at Chepstow that most horses hate.

Keeping one staying chaser sound, fit and peaking across all three inside a calendar year is a training feat before it is a betting story. Most yards would target one of them and be pleased.

Buying out of the Irish points

The yard has a long habit of sourcing chasers from the Irish point-to-point field rather than the sales ring at the top end, Haiti Couleurs among them. It is a slower route and it needs patience, and it is one of the few ways a stable of 40 can end up with a horse good enough to win an Irish National.

Curtis is also unusually well travelled for a jumps trainer in west Wales. Before taking out a licence in 2008 she spent time in California with Richard Mandella and Dan Hendricks, both flat trainers, on top of her grounding next door with Peter Bowen.

Before that

Curtis took out a licence in 2008 and had a Cheltenham Festival winner within four years with Teaforthree. At Fishers Cross became a dual Grade 1 winner, O’Faolains Boy took the RSA Chase, and Lisnagar Oscar landed the 2020 Stayers’ Hurdle at 50/1, which remains one of the bigger-priced winners the Festival has thrown up in recent memory.

How the yard works

Curtis learned the job next door to Peter Bowen before spending time in California with Richard Mandella and Dan Hendricks, which is an unusual grounding for a jumps trainer in west Wales.

The yard has a long habit of buying chasers out of the Irish point-to-point field, Haiti Couleurs among them. It is a patient way to operate, and it suits a stable of around 40 that cannot compete on spending with the big Irish and English operations.

Backing her horses

A small yard that targets specific big staying handicaps is worth watching when it declares for one. Odds on every Curtis runner are on the DragonBet horse racing page, with the betting glossary for any term you need.

More Welsh trainers: Christian Williams and Peter Bowen. Our jockey profiles cover Sean Bowen, James Bowen and Ben Jones.

Sources: career record and race results per published racing sources including the Racing Post. Correct as of 10 September 2026.