Dermot Weld
OccupationTrainer
Birth placeIreland
Birth date29 July 1948 (age 78)
Career wins4000+ (ongoing)
Race

European Flat racing:
Irish Oaks (1981, 1996)
Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp (1984, 1985)
Irish 2,000 Guineas (1986)
Irish 1,000 Guineas (1982, 1988, 2006, 2010, 2022,2023)
Derby Italiano (1992)
St. James's Palace Stakes (1992)
Bayerisches Zuchtrennen (1993)
Irish St. Leger
(1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Irish Derby (1996, 2004, 2016)
Prix Royal-Oak (2001)

British Classic Race wins:
Epsom Derby (2016)
Epsom Oaks (1981, 2024)
2,000 Guineas (2003) Coronation Stakes (2023)

American Classic Race wins:
Belmont Stakes (1990)

International:
Hong Kong Mile (1991)
Melbourne Cup (1993, 2002)[1]
Secretariat Stakes (2008)

Steeplechase / Hurdling:
Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices' Hurdle (1986)
Irish Grand National (1988)
Triumph Hurdle (1990)
Irish Champion Hurdle (1994, 1995)
Punchestown Gold Cup (1980)
Ryanair Gold Cup (1992)

AwardsChampion trainer (Ireland), 8 times
HorsesVintage Crop, Blue Wind, Committed, Media Puzzle
Grey Swallow, Go and Go, Vinnie Roe

Dermot K. Weld (born 29 July 1948), in Kildare, is a former jockey, and one of Ireland's most successful racehorse trainers, setting the record in 2000 for the most winners trained in Ireland with 2,578. He won the Irish Flat Training Championship 8 times in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1998. As a trainer, he won the Melbourne Cup in Australia twice, all five of the Irish Classics, the Epsom Derby and Oaks, the Hong Kong Mile, Italian and American Derby, and Breeders' Cup Turf.

Education

Educated at Newbridge College, became a qualified veterinarian (UCD 1970) and at that time, the youngest qualified vet in Ireland.[2] In 2016, Weld was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year in Veterinary Medicine.[2]

Career

Weld started his career as an amateur jockey,[2] obtaining a training licence in 1972,[1] and took over the stable, at Rosewell House, in Curragh, Ireland, from his father, Charlie Weld, who was also a successful racehorse trainer.[2][1] He went on to win the Irish Flat Training Championship 8 times in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998.[3]

He set a new record for the most winners trained in Ireland with 2,578 in August 2000, holding the record until Willie Mullins overtook it in May 2024.[4]

He was played by Brendan Gleeson in the feature film The Cup (2011).[5]

During his training career, he has saddled over 4000 winners (to 2016).[1]

Major wins

[1][3] Ireland

Australia

France

Germany

Great Britain

Hong Kong

Italy

United States

References

  1. ^ "Trainer Profile: Dermot Weld". Horse Racing ireland. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  2. ^ "Dermot Weld". UCD Alumni Awards. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
  3. ^ "Greatest Trainers: Dermot Weld". timeform.com. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  4. ^ Fennelly, Conor (3 May 2024). "Willie Mullins becomes the winningmost Irish trainer as Ballyburn lands Punchestown Champion Novice Hurdle". Racing Post. Archived 3 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  5. ^ "The Cup 2011". filmaffinity.com. Retrieved 2025-02-07.