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' 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.