RACING
A 75-year-old training legend scores his 25th Classic and a mare’s two-year losing streak finally comes to an end
BETFRED DERBY FESTIVAL Betfred Oaks and the best of the rest
FORTY-THREE years after the Dermot Weld-trained Blue Wind and Lester Piggott sealed victory in the 1981 Oaks, the game little pocket rocket filly Ezeliya (Chris Hayes) provided the legendary trainer with a superb second win in the Epsom Classic.
“Classics are the pinnacle of racing, it’s what we do it for and they’re what you’ll be remembered for,” said 75-yearold Weld after landing his 25th Classic in a remarkable career that includes 1993 Melbourne Cup success with Vintage Crop.
Weld’s most recent Epsom Classic came with Harzand in the 2016 Derby, but the Curragh handler’s Epsom luck extends back to 1975 when he won the amateur Derby as a jockey.
Carrying the colours of her breeder HH The Aga Khan, Dubawi filly Ezeliya always looked to be thriving as she tackled the unique undulations of Epsom in the slipstream of the Karl Burke-trained leader Making Dreams.
In the final stages of this 1m 4f contest, she and the Charlie Appleby-trained Dance Sequence pulled clear of their fading rivals but, as the Godolphin filly wavered when their battle reached fever pitch, Ezeliya pulled a commanding three lengths clear. This allowed her delighted jockey to celebrate his first British Classic success in style.
“She’s a queen,” proclaimed the jockey, who was riding in the race for only the second time, and hadn’t even been born when Weld last won the Oaks (see box, right).
“She didn’t take a step wrong. After the turn, she was back on the bridle and I knew she’d stay, I knew she had class and she was brilliant.”
Ezeliya gave her super sire Dubawi his first Epsom Classic winner. She is the second foal of Group Two winner Eziyra (Teofilo) who descends from The Aga Khan’s great mare Ebaziya, dam of The Queen’s Ascot Gold Cup winner Estimate.
“We’re very fortunate to have a filly as good as this for His Highness,” continued Weld, who raced her twice as a two-year-old, winning a Cork maiden, before landing a Group Three at Navan in April ahead of her Epsom fanfare.
“Patience has paid dividends with her. I was never worried about the distance for her. She loves to
