Iwilldoit provides biggest win of Sam Thomas's training career in Welsh National

Sam Thomas, who hit the heights as a jockey through his fruitful association with the mighty Denman, is determined to make his mark as a trainer and went about embellishing his CV in the best possible way when Iwilldoit scored a gutsy success in a gruelling Welsh Grand National.

The Chepstow showpiece, long backed by Coral and worth £150,000 this year, has always been the antithesis of a post-Christmas stroll but this running had a particularly remorseless element to it, leaving a rock-hard chaser like Native River wanting no more with seven fences left to jump.

He was not the only one, but Iwilldoit, an unexposed eight-year-old blessed with no weight albeit out of the handicap, relished the 3m6½f slog.

His credentials for the test, won for the third straight year by a Welsh outfit, were showcased at the track this month when he landed a trial for the race and he overcame a troubled and messy start, being badly hampered, before defying the brutal conditions to draw nine lengths clear of Highland Hunter. Truckers Lodge, Achille and 6-1 favourite Secret Reprieve, last season's winner of the marathon, were the only other finishers in the 20-runner field.

Coral Welsh Grand National: full result and race replay

Thomas won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2008 on Denman but was never in the Sir Anthony McCoy division of the weighing room, which might explain why he was so thrilled.

"I nearly cried doing an interview there and I don't know what emotions are going through me," he said with composure at odds with his words.

"It's something I've never experienced before. We've had winners, but that's something different. I don't really know how to sum it up."

Thomas, who trains the 13-2 winner for Diamond Racing, has been training since 2015 after his riding career came to an end. Following spells in Gloucestershire and Lambourn, he found his current base near Cardiff three years ago.

Good Risk At All and Before Midnight have underlined his training talents but Iwilldoit highlighted them in fluorescent pink marker pen.

"He's a brave horse and three and a half weeks since his last run is probably not enough because he doesn't take his racing that well," said Thomas, detailing how his gentle approach in the interim may have assisted the big payday.

"We've probably ridden him at home six times since then and he's been on the water treadmill and messing about. He's hardly seen the gallops, but horses who are tough and genuine like him don't need to do anything in between.

"You never know if they're tough enough for a race like this and he's not that big and is very slight. He's a lot lighter today than when he won the trial. There is that worry, but you have to take a chance sometimes."

Stan Sheppard after riding Iwilldoit to victory in the Coral Welsh Grand NationalCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

As well as taking risks now and then, trainers must book the right jockeys and Thomas hailed Stan Sheppard for an "unbelievable ride that came with a lot of pressure".

Sheppard might have had to work hard to make the weight on Iwilldoit but he still had enough strength to punch the air at the line.

Covid-19 restrictions meant Chepstow was empty, bar a handful of participants, and celebrations were understandably subdued, although Thomas received a fist-bump from another Ditcheat disciple in Harry Derham, who was on hand to saddle runner-up Highland Hunter for Denman's trainer Paul Nicholls.

Paddy Brennan and Tom Scudamore, who rode with Thomas, were others to embrace the man of the moment in a socially distanced manner.

Thomas said the absence of crowds was a "travesty" but little could take the gloss off a day that was probably in the planning before coronavirus entered anyone's consciousness.

The Abergavenny native, whose new stable star was bred a mile from his parents' base by Reg Brown and his son Stan, who gave the former jockey his first winner, reminisced vividly: "I've been over in those woods as a seven- or eight-year-old hunting, looking across here thinking I wanted to be here one day as a jockey and I'd be running underneath that archway as a kid watching the horses canter to the start for the Welsh National. It kind of feels like home, so it's very special. It's a day I'll savour for a long time and it means a lot."

Denman, known affectionately by his adoring fan club as 'The Tank', also meant a lot to Thomas.

"I don't mind being associated with him, but I need to make my own tracks now," he said. "I'm lucky I was associated with him, but hopefully now I get recognised as a trainer instead."

Thomas, judged on his handling of Iwilldoit, is on his way there.

Red-hot Pricewise strikes again – make sure you don't miss out on his latest tips

Iwilldoit headlined another superb day of tipping for the Racing Post's Tom Segal, who had described the Welsh National winner as having "everything in his favour" before his triumph at an SP of 13-2.

Segal was also on target at Kempton with Emmpressive Lady, winner of the 3m½f mares' handicap hurdle at odds of 3-1.

The double continued a red-hot run of form for Pricewise after he landed his loyal readers an early Christmas present with a remarkable 2,267-1 four-timer on December 18.

Members' Club Ultimate subscribers can get his unmissable tipping advice again from 6pm on December 28 and 29, and anyone looking to join up can take advantage of a festive special offer that gives you 50 per cent off your first three months.

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