3 minute read
Sam Thomas labelled Iwilldoit as being ‘in great form’ ahead of his attempt to regain his Coral Welsh National crown at Chepstow this afternoon.
The unexposed ten-year-old is four from six over fences and already has two high profile staying chase trophies on his CV after he followed up victory in this contest two years ago, with a Classic Handicap Chase success at Warwick on his seasonal reappearance the following year.
The son of Flying Legend shaped promisingly on his return to action this campaign when runner-up in a Pertemps qualifier over hurdles at Aintree last month and a bid at regaining his Welsh National crown will always have been the target.
Trainer Sam Thomas, who steered Denman to victory in the 2008 Gold Cup, said: "We're absolutely over the moon with him and he's in great form,"
"He had a prep run at Aintree a little while ago now and has had plenty of time to recover from that. He's since had a couple of away days and is in a really good place, we're really happy with him."
With a current mark of 153 13lb higher than when winning the contest two years ago, Thomas has enlisted the help of talented 7lb conditional Dylan Thomas.
The Cardiff-based trainer added: "He will want it as soft as possible and we have decided to claim off him as well, taking 7lb off his back. We just feel if we're ever going to go and win it again – he's not getting any younger – we just want to do everything we can to give him every chance.
"Dylan was put to me by Olly Murphy a while ago and I've since used him on another horse. He's a very good young lad and has a wise head on young shoulders. It's a lot of responsibility for a 7lb claimer in a big race and the last thing we want to do is put any pressure on a young lad, but he looks like he will be fine.
"He's been amazing for us, and he would be a horse of a lifetime for any yard really. We've won some nice, big races with him and fingers crossed we can keep him in one piece, and this might not be his last Welsh National yet."
The Sam Thomas-trained ten-year-old is a current 15/2 chance to land the Chepstow feature with Paddy Power this afternoon.
