Weld calls time on Galway hero Ansar

Dermot Weld has announced today that Galway specialist Ansar has been retired.

The 13-year-old had an exceptional record at Ballybrit, winning at the course on no less than seven occasions including two victories in the Galway Plate as well as a Galway Hurdle.

“Ansar, who has been such a wonderful servant down the years, has been retired. He’s living in happy retirement in north county Dublin and the nice thing was that he has retired sound,” Weld told At The Races.

“We were going to have one last go at the Galway Plate this year but a little bit of heat came in his tendon and it wasn’t to be.

“He was a wonderful horse to train and such a specialist round Galway. He won there on the Flat, he won the Galway Hurdle and he won the Galway Plate.

“His runs in the Plate were always exceptional and even last year he ran a super race to be third.

“I’ve never trained a horse that could handle Galway better than him and he just adored going round the inside. He would literally take the paint off the rails.”