Owner jumps for joy over horse race win
The owner of Welsh Grand National hero Mountainous said it was an "incredible" feeling to bring the trophy home to Mid Wales after his victory at the weekend.
Welshpool-based James Potter, who co-owns the eight-year-old bay gelding with his wife Jean and Dai Walters, from South Wales, said the £56,000 win was an experience he would never forget. The Richard Lee-trained 20/1 shot saw off the challenge of the Paul Nicholls-trained pair Hawkes Point and Tidal Bay at Chepstow on Saturday.
Today, Mr Potter said he was still amazed by the victory and said he was now keeping his fingers crossed for rain-softened ground at Aintree in April for the Grand National.
He said: "We are absolutely chuffed to bits and I still almost can't believe it. It was a marvellous training performance by Richard Lee, who has his stables on the Powys border at Presteigne and a great ride from jockey Paul Moloney.
"As both myself and Dai Walters are Welshmen it really does mean everything to us to win this race with a horse we share and to bring the trophy home was magnificent.
"We were down at Chepstow for the race but came home at night and had a quiet celebration as a family and we have watched the race a few times since."
He added: "We will take it day by day with him now, but I suppose the dream would be if Aintree got a lot of rain in April, because the key to him running well is soft or heavy ground.
"Richard has always said he was a Welsh Grand National horse in the making and he was proved right. It was an incredible feeling."
The win was Richard Lee's second in the race in the past three years, with the ill-fated Le Beau Bai winning in 2011. The horse was put down after failing to recover from a broken pelvis.
