Notre Pere claims Welsh national

Notre Pere was crowned the first Irish-trained winner of the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow.

Trained by Jim Dreaper and ridden by Andrew Lynch, the seven-year-old produced a textbook round of jumping to take this valuable Grade Three handicap at odds of 16-1.

Cornish Sett edged top-weight Halcon Genelardais for second with Officier De Reserve fourth.

Notre Pere, a good winner at Navan last time, had proven levels of stamina as he finished third in this year's Irish Grand National.

This effort by far eclipsed that achievement, however, as Lynch’s mount joined Officier De Reserve and Sherwoods Folly in an absorbing three-way scrap at the third-last.

Notre Pere cosily outstayed those two rivals and powered clear at the penultimate obstacle to collect by seven lengths.

Paul Nicholls’ Cornish Set came from a mile back as did the laudable Halcon Genelardais, a winner of the race in 2006 and runner-up last year.

Nicholls completed the minor placings with the fourth-placed Officier De Reserve,

The early exchanges, in which Joe Lively and Sherwoods Folly set the pace, were tinged with misfortune as last year’s winner Miko De Beauchene fell at the second fence.

A jubilant Lynch said: ``It was unbelievable. I came here thinking he would run well and he did a lot better than we thought.

“If he was going to win another handicap it was today. This is great and I’d like to thank the owners and trainer for sticking by me.”

Dreaper also revealed that Notre Pere will hold a cursory entry in the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival.

He added: “I will enter him for the Gold Cup but it will only be as a safety-net in case the ground came up bottomless.”