On a Plate for Oslot as Weld notches 200th winner
Equally, there are few trainers who have mastered Galway like Dermot Weld and when Lady Alicia scored his 200th Festival success in the sixth race, he laid down a marker few will ever equal.
Nicholls’ ability to pick off jump racing’s biggest prizes was underlined once more as Ruby Walsh steered Oslot to an untroubled four length win over Charlie Swan’s Oodachee in second and Weld’s two-time winner Ansar in third, but it was Weld ultimately who was the hero of the hour.
If the romantics had wanted the 12-year-old Galway specialist Ansar to roll back the years and win this race for the third time and score that 200th success, it was not to be and while the veteran toiled bravely under a strong ride from Denis O’Regan, he was never going to be able for the winner who was, after all, only half his age.
For Nicholls and Walsh, however, it was a well planned and implemented raid which had been on their radar for some time. From the time he finished second to Mahogany Blaze at Cheltenham’s April meeting over two miles and then won in style at Newton Abbott, Oslot was always going to be targeted at the Plate.
Prior to the race Nicholls was his usual unruffled self, although Oslot’s owner Andy Stewart looked a little frayed around the edges as he fretted through the preliminaries.
Over in Ansar’s corner of the parade ring, the connections of Weld’s horse were keenly looking forward to the contest.
“We’re going to make history here,” one commented as he watched O’Regan getting the leg up.
“Go on Denis, you know the short way round here,” he shouted at the jockey, who had made his name by winning the Plate on Ansar in 2005.
It was not to be, however, and while his eventual third place was a credit to his tenacity and ability, the simple fact appeared to be that he was beaten on the day by two younger pretenders.
The pre-race atmosphere in the ring was spiced up by the screening of Johnny Murtagh’s victory aboard Henrythenavigator in the Sussex Stakes at ‘glorious Goodwood’ – recording Aidan O’Brien’s 16th Group 1 win of the season, but the focus quickly returned to Ballybrit as most people’s hard-earned dosh was piled on Oslot.
Oslot did not disappoint and as he cruised to the front down into the dip after the back straight, the roar from the crowd nearly lifted the roof off the new Killanin Stand.
“He pinged the second last and he jumped out of my hands at the last,” Walsh reported afterwards, with hardly a bead of sweat on his brow..
Paul Nicholls was delighted to have claimed this “massive prize” and while he said he had no idea what Oslot would do next – other than having a holiday – he was keen on the idea of coming back to Galway for another shot at the Plate next year.
For all their success though, both Stewart and Nicholls could take a leaf out of the book of one DK Weld if they want to find the secret of continued and sustained success at Galway.
While Weld’s Ansar was brave in the Plate, the trainer scored successes either side of the big race thanks to Directa King and Lady Alicia.
The latter marked an unique and possibly never-again-to-be-seen moment when Matt O’Connor (nicknamed ‘Strawberry’ for the simple reason that he’s from Wexford) drove Lady Alicia home, he duly recorded Weld’s 200th festival success here.
It may be that English raiders are a fleeting fancy here, but at the rate things are going it is the incredible Mr Weld that they’ll ultimately be building statues to at Ballybrit.
