Small and mighty chaser The Two Amigos relished conditions for a tenacious home win in the Coral Welsh Grand National on Tuesday.
The 2020 runner-up and 2019 fifth jumped boldly out in front and dug deep to find extra reserves in the Chepstow mud. Headed by one of the favourites The Big Dog at the fourth last, the ten-year-old stuck to the task under jockey David Prichard.
And the 16-1 shot, trained by Minehead-based Nicky Martin, needed no second invitation to regain his front-running role when the Irish raider ploughed through the penultimate obstacle. With head bowed low, the lightest weight of the entire field stayed on pluckily from final challenger The Big Breakaway (12-1).
The winning margin was a length and three quarters, with five lengths back to The Big Dog (11-2) in third.
Seven runners from the 17 that set out completed the course at the sodden Welsh venue. But conditions did not dampen the enthusiasm of Prichard, who hails from Cardiff.
"I'm a proud Welshman so to win my own National is absolutely incredible," he said.
The 31-year-old previously gave up race-riding due to his weight, a renewed challenge at the Christmas dinner table.
As the rain fell to turn the marathon into more of a stamina test, Prichard and Martin warmed to the chaser's chance.
"We thought we were coming here with a real live chance especially with the ground getting softer by the minute and off such a featherweight, it was just brilliant," Prichard added.
The race was run in memory of Kim Gingell, who died in 2020, and her brother Joe Tizzard trained the runner-up in The Big Breakaway while her son Freddie was fourth on Truckers Lodge (12-1).
