Jason Weaver talks Double Trigger and believes this Gold Cup contender is 'built in a similar mould'

The itch to ride at Royal Ascot has "long gone" for ITV's Jason Weaver but there is still a sense of pride in his voice as he looks back 29 years to the day he conquered the Gold Cup (4.25) on Double Trigger.

Fresh-faced just after 9.30am on day three of the royal meeting, Weaver takes little prompting to recall the day the most popular stayer of his generation landed the Royal Ascot showpiece.

"Relentless is how I'd describe Double Trigger," says Weaver under a clear blue sky down by an empty paddock. "He had a lot of pace early on in his career but if you stayed a mile and a quarter as a juvenile, it was always the way forward that you were going to be a good stayer.

"He just progressed and progressed and, at that time, there was a really good bunch of stayers floating around but he was right up there."

Double Triggers' Gold Cup-winning season started with victory in the Sagaro, was followed by a fourth in the Yorkshire Cup and then success in the Henry II Stakes. At Ascot he was sent off the 9-4 second-favourite behind his York conqueror Moonax at 13-8.

"I'd like to say it was really hard but it was really easy," says Weaver of the Gold Cup. "He was tougher to get to post than he would be in the race. He jumped off and was lazy in the run and you just needed to be fit to ride him."

Jason Weaver and Double Trigger were a formidable duo in the top staying racesCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Double Trigger set off in front, quickened over four furlongs out and came home unchallenged to win by a comfortable five lengths from Moonax.

"I was in the right place at the right time on a good horse and he just kept going," says Weaver. "Undoubtedly it was one of my career highlights. The Gold Cup means so much to the racing public because they get to see those horses a lot more than the rest of the Flat horses and they get in tune with them."

Weaver can see a parallel between Double Trigger and one runner in particular in this year's race and expects stamina to win the day.

"Kyprios only ever does enough and he's in a similar mould to Trigger because you never feel like you're getting to the bottom of him and that's the key to the Gold Cup winner," he says. "There's always a little bit left in the tank with Kyprios and, with horses like that, you just need an ideal set up and then your stamina comes into play."

Being in front of the camera and alongside the likes of Ed Chamberlin, Adele Mulrennan and Francesca Cumani suits Weaver perfectly and it feels like he has gone from one dream job to another.

"It's been a fantastic week so far," he says. "The itch to ride has long gone and that feels like a million years ago. I love being in the paddock, especially when the two-year-olds for races like the Coventry and Queen Mary are walking around, because you get to see the stars of the future. This place is special and I'm loving it."

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