RACEHORSE Dream Alliance lived up to his name for Bilbrook-based trainer Philip Hobbs when he galloped to victory in the prestigious Welsh National at Chepstow last Friday.

The win was a first in the race for Philip and something of a miracle for the eight-year-old horse, which looked set to be put down just 18 months ago.

The horse's owners - a 23-strong Welsh syndicate - feared for his future when he severed a tendon in his front leg at the 2008 Grand National at Aintree.

But rather than call it a day, they opted to pay for £20,000 of stem cell surgery to save the horse, which repaid both them and Philip with victory despite being the 20-1 outsider.

"He's aptly named because this is a dream come true," said Philip.

"His injury was so bad that we were assured he wouldn't run again."

Dream Alliance has been at Philip's Sandhill yard, where he is pictured with stable girl Clare Sandercock, since 2004 and was brought back to fitness with a meticulously planned exercise regime.

Staff at the stables spent hours building up his strength by both riding and walking him for set periods of time before he was deemed fit enough to return to the sport.

The Welsh National was just his second outing in the last 18 months and was also the first win for his jockey Tom O'Brien since he returned from a broken leg.

The pair beat Silver By Nature by three-quarters of a length to clinch the race, with favourite Le Beau Bai in third.

Both Dream Alliance and Silver by Nature stumbled slightly on the landing at the final fence, but the Hobbs-trained horse managed to hold off his nearest rival to pass the post in first place.

Before his injury, Dream Alliance had already chalked up a win in the Perth Gold Cup in 2007 and come second in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Newbury in the same year.

But the three-mile five-furlong Welsh National was by far the biggest victory of his career and Philip may now look again at Aintree and the Grand National.

Photo: Steve Guscott