Trueshan Tacks on Hefty Weight in Northumberland Plate

If there is one big race in the calendar that has changed beyond recognition over the last decade it is the June 25 Northumberland Plate at Newcastle Racecourse. The Pitmen's Derby was once the crown jewel of the turf season in the north, but now it is the outstanding race of the summer on the all-weather.

It's not just the surface that has changed. The Plate was once a race in which a low draw would be favored and anything higher than 15 could be considered a coffin box. That was on turf, though, and since the switch to Tapeta statistics have been switched entirely.

The three best performing stalls are now 17, 18, and 19, which are beating an average of 65.68% of rivals between them, and the last two winners of the Plate were drawn in number 17.

Onesmoothoperator is the horse who will attempt to give stall 17 a hat-trick, and he recorded a career-best Racing Post Rating at York two weeks ago, despite coming home last of six.

Onesmoothoperator was competing off level weights with horses rated upwards of 10 pounds his superior and finished only 4 1/4 lengths behind. It's possible to argue he was flattered, but his previous form at this course has also been advertised in much higher grades.

Before York, Onesmoothoperator twice came up against Nate The Great  over course and distance, losing by a short head first time and beating him by a half-length second time.

Nate The Great went on to finish second to Quickthorn  in the Henry II Stakes (G3) at Sandown just two runs after his defeat behind Onesmoothoperator in the all-weather championships and the winner, Earlofthecotswolds, competed in the Gold Cup (G1) at Royal Ascot last week.

All of that points to Onesmoothoperator being on the fringes of listed and group class, but he carries just 8st 11 pounds because of the presence of a bona-fide group 1 horse in Trueshan  at the top of the weights. He will carry 10st eight pounds and be conceding upwards of 19 pounds to the field.

Not only does Trueshan have a big weight to overcome, he also has a tricky draw in stall 10. Runners from that gate have beaten an average of just 44.52% of their rivals in the Vase (G2) and Plate combined. And no horse has won the Pitmen’s Derby with more than 9st 10 pounds.

Trueshan is now two pounds higher than when sixth in the race last year and no horse has even run off a BHA mark of 120-plus in a flat handicap in Britain this century.

"Trueshan probably has an impossible task but he's been simmering away for a few weeks and needs to run somewhere," said trainer Alan King.

The 6-year-old son of Planteur  skipped the Gold Cup due to the firm condition of the turf. He captured his 2022 debut in the listed Barry Hills Further Flight Stakes at Nottingham Racecourse in April.

Decorated Hero was the last to attempt it and he finished sixth in the 1998 International at Ascot off a rating of 121. That gives an idea of the herculean task the division-leading Trueshan faces.