Cheltenham specialist Coole Cody (22/1) won his fourth race at the track by taking the Craft Irish Whiskey Co. Plate Handicap Chase on Thursday.

The 11-year-old took the honours by six and a half lengths from 7/2 Favourite Imperial Alcazar with another nose back to Spiritofthegames in third,

It is second Festival win for trainer Evan Williams – 14 years after High Chimes in the 2008 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase.

It Is also a second Festival win for jockey Adam Wedge, following on from Lisnagar Oscar in the 2020 Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle.

Winning trainer Evan Williams said: “It sums him up that performance. He is 11 years of age and he has got so many miles on the clock but he will sit back and kept fighting all the way for you.

"He is a remarkable horse. This track should be all wrong for him as he jumps right-handed. He is not a particularly brilliant jumper but this is a place is a tough place for tough horses. He is a tough horse.

"It helped him (losing the lead) if you look back at the tap. Brendan (Powell) has come over and held his racing line which was beautiful race riding and good luck to the boy but that helped us as it just spurred him on. They didn’t go by him and they gave him a chance and if you get into a fight with this fellow there is only going to be one winner.

“It has been a long time since we have had a Festival winner and they are hard to come by. I think as you get older you start to appreciate the little things a bit more.

"My family at home are very heavily involved. I think every single winner and especially every big winner brings it home how incredibly lucky I am to be doing this for a living. This is a special place and this is a special day. Any winner at the Festival is special.

"I’m the most boring person in the world. I enjoy a glass of beer and I enjoy a glass of wine but I’m more a cup of tea and digestive man. We savour every moment. It is not about popping champagne corks for me. I get an awful lot of enjoyment out of every single moment the good, the bad, the ugly. It is a wonderful day.

“I thought coming into this we would finish in the first six. He is on a career-high mark, he is 11 years of age, how can he improve? When he got bumped that helped him as you wouldn’t want to go to war with him as he doesn’t back out.

“We’ve only had one Festival winner so this means an awful lot. It means an awful lot to give Wedgey one as I think he is an incredibly good jockey and it means an awful lot to supply him with a Festival winner.”

Successful rider Adam Wedge said: “He’s a warrior, isn’t he? An absolute warrior. He’s got cut up on the bend and I think that’s just put more fire in his belly.

"Once I’ve pulled him out he wasn’t letting them get past him again. For a moment in my mind, I thought, that’s me gone. I pulled him out and I’ve given him a crack, and I could feel the fire in his belly. He’s an angry horse and that made him angrier!

“He just seems to operate round here. For a horse who jumps right, you wouldn’t think a left-handed track would suit him, but all credit to Evan for getting him to win three big handicaps round Cheltenham. It’s a fantastic effort, and Wayne and everyone who has put so much into the sport - it’s just a pleasure to be riding.

“He was a little bit cold over the first couple and I had to give him a squeeze to get him into our usual position, but from the bend coming into the home straight for the first time, he’s taken me and I was very happy. He’s just a warrior.

“He’s done it in the past once or twice [been a bit ‘cold’ early on in the race] - it’s just when they go so hard to the first couple of fences. He’s not the fastest horse in the world, but he just has the one cruising speed and just keeps going.

“I probably didn’t take it all in as much as I should have first time round [when he won the Stayers’ Hurdle on Lisnagar Oscar in 2020]; we weren’t expecting it and it was a bit of a shock to my system. But to do it today for my boss, Evan, who has stuck by me through a lot of thick and a lot of thin - we’ve had very good days and very bad days - to do it for him means the world to me. I’ll be taking it all in today, that’s for sure.”