Val Dancer emerged from the darkness to claim the Coral Welsh Grand National, and hung on gamely to thwart Sam Thomas' two-pronged attack at Chepstow.
The 8/1 winner, trained by Mel Rowley, prepared for this marathon stint with a triumphant return at Carlisle last month and was among those keeping an eye on the amateur leader in the early exchanges.
Popular racers, Dan Skelton's Galia Des Litoux and Jonjo and the duo of AJ O'Neill Ironbridge and Moonbeam Genius, crept into the fray as racers made their way to the back for a second time, with many remaining in the chase with racers falling out of sight on the furthest part of the course.
However, with fog making visibility difficult, it was Val Dancer who took over the running as the runners returned to full view with five fences to jump, and the seven-year-old was accompanied by 2021 Thomas Award winner Ewelduit.
Val Dancer and Iwilldoit were engaged in a ding-dong battle along the long, endurance-sapping Chepstow Road, and although Iwilldoit's challenge began to falter in the closing stages, his stablemate, the 6/1 favorite Jubilee Express, took the reins to push the winner along The road to the line.
Following Charlie Hammond's win, Val Dancer emerged one and a half lengths clear of Jubilee Express at the finish, with Iwilldoit the same distance back in third. Monbeg Genius was the pick of O'Neill's duo at No. 4.
The win not only broke Rowley's duck at the South Wales Stadium, but also provided the Shropshire coach with the biggest success of her budding coaching career.
“I can't put it into words, and for our little yard in Shropshire, days like this we see on TV, we're not part of it. It's unbelievable, I don't know if I will do it or not,” she told Sky Sports Racing. Laugh or cry to be honest.
“We were watching on the railway, but it was like connecting the dots as you couldn't see much. When we saw him come out of the darkness and he was still there and struggling I said 'Oh my God.' He had never gone this distance before but we were fairly confident he would continue.
“Charlie Deutsch rode him on the last day, but he had to be somewhere else today, so the other Charlie took over and they had a long chat. Charlie Deutsch told Charlie Hammond what to do and he did it perfectly, it was fantastic.”
Wales-based Thomas may have narrowly missed out on winning the big race at his local racetrack for a second time, but he was nonetheless proud of both of his two place finishes.
He said: “All thanks to the winner, Charlie Deutsch told me he was the horse to beat when we were talking about the race last week and he thought Val Dancer was the perfect horse for the race. Full credit to Team Rowley and we will be back again.”
“It's a really good race for us and we're enjoying coming here. We were very close, but there's nothing to complain about, we're happy and proud of the horses and proud of the team on home turf.”
Iwilldoit has provided the Gold Cup-winning jockey with some of the biggest days of his short training career, while hopes are high that Jubilee Express will continue to replicate his older colleague and become a constant dish in the most prestigious survival events.
Thomas added: “When you keep handling these type of horses, they tell you when they are ready to retire and I love the game. You can't run him too much and he will want a good break again now but when they want to do it this way, there is no reason not to keep going.”
“We will have to look and see with Jubilee Express, but those who will stay in the races seem tailor-made for him and I dare say if the ground had been a bit softer as it usually is it would have helped him. I am happy and he is like a hunter at home he is very comfortable.
“The plan did not work at all and we were supposed to do a preparation round but for one reason or another it did not happen. Big credit to him and he will improve a lot for this race.”