Tony McCoy makes it a full house at Chepstow

When Tony McCoy won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award he stated in the aftermath that there was still one glaring omission on his CV.

The perennial champion jockey had never previously won the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow.

That was partly because the meeting always clashes with Kempton's fixture at Christmas which meant McCoy had not actually had that many rides in the race, but with the weather meaning both were called off originally, the great man was able to head to Wales full of hope.

He never really had any anxious moments on Jonjo O'Neill's ante-post favourite Synchronised, who drifted out to 5-1 in the betting, and the Midlands National winner added another to his haul. Of far more gravitas, it meant McCoy now has the full set of Nationals following wins on Belmont King in Scotland, Butler's Cabin in Ireland and famously Don't Push It at Aintree.

After a 15-year wait for his first win at Aintree, it would be ironic were McCoy to win two in a row but he himself harbours doubts about the winner's suitability for the unique fences.

McCoy said: "I've won the English, Irish and now Welsh Nationals for Jonjo and JP (McManus), so that's very special. He took a long time to learn how to jump normal fences and he doesn't jump out at me as a typical National horse. He might take to it, he might not. This was the ideal race for him, three miles five furlongs round here on soft ground. I don't know if he has the scope for the Grand National fences, but he did jump better today than he has ever done."

In Ireland, Willie Mullins continued his domination when claiming a one-two in the MCR Hurdle at Leopardstown with Final Approach and Call The Police. The winner was having only his fourth run over hurdles. Backed from a morning price of 14-1 into 6-1, Paul Townend crept around the inside rail before hitting the front well before the last, beating his stable companion by two lengths with Mutadarek third and Northern Alliance fourth. "It was fantastic. It's not often a plan comes together like that," said Mullins.

Meanwhile, Kempton clerk of the course Barney Clifford reports the track to be in good nick as preparations continue apace for Saturday's William Hill King George VI Chase. The Grade One showpiece has been held over since Kempton were forced to abandon their two-day Christmas fixture due to the cold snap.

That delay meant Paul Nicholls' Kauto Star has had to wait three more weeks to bid for a fifth success in the three-mile race, but all is set fair for his record-breaking challenge.

"It's good to soft, soft in places. We've had 31 millimetres of rain in the last 72 hours, but we've been dry since yesterday afternoon," said Clifford.

The race has been delayed once before in recent years, with the 1995 running actually taking place at Sandown on 6 January, 2006.Officials at Kempton were eager to keep the race themselves this time, however, and the scheduled Lanzarote Hurdle card provided an ideal opportunity. "The King George really is the iconic race at Kempton so it was important to us that it was run here," Clifford explained. "I know the three-week delay was not ideal but it was very important to all involved that the race was re-programmed here."