Val Dancer emerged from the gloom to claim the Coral Welsh Grand National, clinging on gamely to thwart Sam Thomas’ two-pronged attack at Chepstow.
Trained by Mel Rowley, the 8/1 winner tuned up for this marathon assignment with a victorious return at Carlisle last month and was among those to keep tabs on leader Amateur in the early exchanges.
Fancied runners, Dan Skelton’s Galia Des Liteaux and Jonjo and AJ O’Neill’s pair Iron Bridge and Monbeg Genius crept into contention as the runners made their way down the back for the second time, as plenty remained in the hunt as the runners went out of sight at the most distant part of the course.
However, with fog making visibility tricky, it was Val Dancer who had taken up the running as the runners came back into full view with five fences to jump, the seven-year-old having Thomas’ 2021 winner Iwilldoit for company.
Val Dancer and Iwilldoit engaged in a ding-dong battle up the long, stamina-sapping Chepstow straight and although Iwilldoit’s challenge began to falter in the closing stages, his stablemate, the 6/1 joint-favourite Jubilee Express, took over the mantle to push the winner all the way to the line.
Ridden to victory by Charlie Hammond, Val Dancer emerged a length and half clear of Jubilee Express at the finish, with Iwilldoit the same distance back in third. Monbeg Genius was the pick of the O’Neill pair in fourth.
The victory not only broke Rowley’s duck at the south Wales venue, but also provided the Shropshire handler with the biggest success of her fledgling training career.
She told Sky Sports Racing: “I can’t put it into words and for our little yard in Shropshire, days like this we watch on the telly, we’re not part of it. It’s unbelievable, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry to be honest.
“We were watching on the rail, but it was a bit like joining the dots as you couldn’t see very much. When we saw him come out of the gloom and he was still there and in contention I thought ‘oh my god’. He’s not run over this distance before but we were fairly confident he would keep going.
“Charlie Deutsch rode him the last day, but had to be elsewhere today, so the other Charlie took up the reins and they had a long chat. Charlie Deutsch told Charlie Hammond what to do and he did it to perfection, it was fantastic.”
Welsh-based Thomas may have narrowly failed to win his local track’s big race for the second time, but was nevertheless proud of both his placed horses.
He said: “All credit to the winner and Charlie Deutsch told me he was the horse to beat when we were talking about the race last week, he thought Val Dancer was the perfect horse for the race. Full credit to the Rowley team and we’ll be back again.
“It’s a really good race for us and we enjoy coming here. We were so close, but there’s nothing to complain about and we’re just delighted and proud of the horses and proud of the team at home.”
Iwilldoit has provided the Gold Cup-winning jockey with some of the biggest days in his short training career, while hopes are high Jubilee Express will go on to replicate his elder stablemate and become a standing dish in the most prestigious staying handicap events.
Thomas added: “When you keep going with those sort of horses, they tell you when they are ready to retire and Iwilldoit just loves the game. You can’t run him too often and he’s going to want a good break again now but when they want to do it like that, there’s no reason not to carry on.
“We’ll have to look and see with Jubilee Express, but those staying races look tailor-made for him and I dare say if the ground had been a bit softer like it normally is it would have helped him. I’m delighted and he’s like a hunter at home he’s so laid back.
“The plan did not work out at all and we were meant to have a prep run but for one reason or another it just didn’t happen. Huge credit to him and he’ll improve a ton for that race.”