Moments after the victory, connections pledged that Wells would return next season in a bid to make it four Nationals

Part owner Sandy Mcgregor, who also part-owned Melbourne Cup winner Prince Of Penzance, said Wells win gave him a greater thrill than his cup success.

"I knew Prince Of Penzance was always going to win right throughout the race but Wells didn't look the winner until 50 metres from home." McGregor said

For the third time in just four years Wells ploughed through the heavy conditions at Ballarat, over the gruelling 4500 metres and lumping 70.5 kilos to defend his title and now establishing himself as a world-class steeplechaser.

Former champion jumps jockey Craig Durden, now assistant trainer to his wife, said Sunday's victory was his biggest thrill in racing.

"I had a lot of success as a jockey, winning a lot of feature races, but this bloke winning for the third time is a great thrill," Durden said.

"He's a fantastic horse.

"As we've alluded to before, he's just a wonderful stayer, he jumps very economically and he has a big heart."

Kathryn Durden said the result was unbelievable and had no hesitation saying the gelding would be back again next year for a fourth tilt.

Jockey Richard Cully described Wells as a proper champion.

"He's got an unbelievable engine. He's unbelievably tough, unbelievably sound and it's a fantastic training job," he said.

Jumping enthusiasts from around Australia converged on Ballarat on Sunday, braving the bitterly cold conditions to see if Wells had the constitution to manage another jumping milestone.

And supporters of the sport were not let down. They were given a Grand National that they will never forget.

In fact there were still four jumpers after nearly 4000 metres locked together as they jumped the second-last fence.

However, master jumping trainer Paddy Payne had to again watch his brave fencer Sea King, who looked the probable winner, fall at the second last obstacle, leaving Wells and Over The Yardarm to fight out the race.

On this day last year another of Payne's tough jumpers Slowpoke Rodriguez had the winning cheque all but in the connections' grasp, only to have it snatched away with only 200 metres to run when he toppled over.

Wells joins another jumping hero Bashboy on three National steeples, and has taken his stake earnings to nearly $1.3 million.

It seemed that New Zealand-bred and raced Over The Yardarm would give Darren Weir another major success on the Australian racing calendar when he closed in on Wells after jumping the last fence.

Despite the huge discrepancy in the weights Wells kept on finding in the closing stages and was holding the Kiwi on the line..

Wells started at $3.80 and defeated Over The Yardarm, the $3.20 favourite, with Bold Zamour in third place at $17.00.