IT was a third successive second for Wye Valley trainer Venetia Williams' stable star L'Homme Presse, as the 11-year-old missed out to Welsh and Irish National winner Haiti Couleurs in Saturday's £90,000 Denman Chase at Newbury.

Having also won last year’s National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham, the winning Rebecca Curtis-trained 6/5 Pembrokeshire favourite under champion jump jockey Sean Bowen made all the running in the 2m 7 1/2f race.

L'Homme Presse and Leave Of Absence pressed approaching the third last, but Haiti Couleurs' stamina kicked in on the soft ground as he upped the pace to go clear in the run-in, winning from jockey Charlie Deutsch's 2/1 shot by 7L.

Winning jockey Bowen said: “I thought he showed a bit of a turn of foot when they came to me. I was surprised how well he did quicken, but he is just a good horse and he makes that easy for you.

“He is going to be a horse that three miles and two furlongs around Cheltenham will really suit. Whether he is good enough, I don’t know, but everything will suit him on the day...

“You want to be riding in Gold Cups. I’ve only ridden in one Gold Cup before when I finished fourth so a few places forward will be nice.”

L’Homme Presse didn’t jump with any real fluency early on, but warmed to his task and led the chase down the home straight before the winner, in receipt of two pounds from the runner-up, kicked away.

Williams said: “His brain wasn’t quite in gear at the start and they have jumped off quite steadily thinking are we still cantering down to the start, then... who put that fence there?

“He has been prone to do that all his life (jump left). If you remember the Fleur de Lys a couple of years ago his brain wasn’t in gear there and he was jumping left, but he very much did that today.

“He finally got racing turning for home. He has run a good race. You come to the races hoping we might finish in front, and we haven’t, we have finished second, but I’m very happy.

“At the end of the day with a horse of that rating you have got limited opportunities. He is in the Grand National, which is a long way away, so we would like to run him somewhere in March so there are a few races to consider.”

Williams' King's Caple-trained horse still secured £19,000 for second, but while Haiti Couleurs' Gold Cup odds were slashed to 7/1 by Paddy Power, L'Homme Presse is wallowing at 100/1 for the March 13 showcase, despite earning £67,000 in its three runs this year, and finishing fourth at Cheltenham in 2024 after being injured when challenging for the lead two from home.

It's been a tough season for Williams and her yard, with the last win 64 races ago in December.

But the trainer knows all about upsetting the odds , having famously won the 2009 Grand National with 100/1 shot Mon Mome.