Evergreen Son Of Westerner Lands Valuable Chase

The evergreen Jepeck (11g Westerner - Jenny’s Jewel, by Be My Native) overcame a dramatic finish to land Saturday’s valuable Unibet Veteran’s Handicap Chase at Sandown.

The Anthony Honeyball-trained bay began the season with ten point-to-point wins to his name and came into Saturday’s £62,000 feature having won two of his three starts over hurdles. He raced in a prominent position under Rex Dingle, leading from two out and was almost taken out by a loose horse approaching the final fence. Regaining momentum, he dug deep to maintain the advantage and stuck his head down to prevail narrowly on the line.

The brave Jepeck provided Rex Dingle with the biggest win of his career to date and the winning jockey later said of the dramatic closing stages, “I could see it happening in front of my eyes so I was sort of half-prepared for it, but he was good to stay straight and jump the fence and get his head back in front.”

Owned by J Pike and bred by Dave Slattery, Jepeck began his career between the flags in Ireland with Trevor Horgan. He is a full-brother to four-time winner Western Jo (Westerner) and provides a nice update for his two-year-old half-brother by Mahler.