IF at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
The Two Amigos, having his third crack at the Welsh Grand National, made every yard of the running for a memorable win at Chepstow.
Welshman David Prichard celebrated the biggest win of his career
The 16-1 shot fought them all off under a ballsy ride from 5lb claimer David Prichard to give trainer Nicky Martin her biggest winner.
The gutsy 10-year-old was fifth on his first attempt in the 3m6f marathon and finished a brave second in the rearranged race in early 2021.
But he finally had his day in the sun – well, rain – and you’d have to have a heart of stone to begrudge him this success.
It snapped his 17-race losing streak but, when you see how hard he tries in his races, it’s a mystery how he has gone nearly four years without a win.
And in truth very few of the 17 strong-field ever got into it, as the first three home raced in the first three throughout.
The Two Amigos looked in deep trouble when The Big Dog loomed alongside, and briefly hit the front, halfway up the straight.
But that rival put his tail between his legs and backed out of it when the winner regained the lead, and he had just enough in hand to fend off the late charge of The Big Breakaway in second.
Welshman Prichard said: “We only just scraped in at the bottom of the weights – I thought I was going to have to do 10-2 which wouldn’t have been ideal after Christmas!
“He has been consistent in these big handicaps and Nicky has him in good form this year.
“We knew he would have a chance especially when the ground started getting softer.
“I’m a proud Welshman and to win this race is very special. It’s a big big day.”
At Kempton, Edwardstone fluffed his lines when unseating jockey Tom Cannon as the long odds-on favourite in the Desert Orchid Chase.
It was a terrible mistake and Cannon stood little chance of staying in the saddle, but trainer Alan King wasn’t too downbeat.
He said: “They’re both fine. I’d have to watch it again – normally him and Tom do everything right, normally they sort it between them and today they didn’t.
“Nobody has died and he’s fine and he enjoyed himself when loose afterwards.
“I’ve been at it long enough to know that as long as they’re ok that there’s always another day. We’re gutted of course but I’ve been in worse places.”
He is still 2-1 with Coral for the Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March behind the 4-5 favourite Energumene.
The race was eventually won by 28-1 shot Editeur Du Gite for Gary Moore and jockey Niall Houlihan.
