Room Service in Ayr Gold Cup Please
The sunshine has shone on Ayr this week and continues today.
Last Saturday we enjoyed an exciting finish with American Affair just getting up on the line!
He runs again in the Ayr Gold Cup with 24 challengers. Enjoy another fantastic Saturday of horse racing.
A cracking race and it’s wide open with many in with winning chances. Some of these would have preferred softer going but good ground will suit the Kevin Ryan trained three-year-old Room Service. This is a talented racehorse and pattern class in my opinion. He won cosily over six furlongs on soft ground at Pontefract in July. Kevin decided to give him a small wind operation and concentrate on an autumn campaign. I think he is classy enough to win a truly run stiff six-furlong premier handicap even if the ground is on the good side.
Last season, he finished third in a heritage handicap during the York Ebor festival when outpaced. He progressed to win a sales race at Doncaster by over two lengths over 6.5f on soft ground. The handicapper has raised him 5lbs to 105 for his Pontefract win which is fair. Kevin will have had this race in mind all season and Room Service remains unexposed on his eight-career run.
Aramis Grey is well overpriced having caught my eye last time out. He met traffic in running having travelled kindly and hit the line hard but a neck too late behind winner, Elmonjed. That form was franked massively with Elmonjed winning a premier handicap at the York Ebor Festival over six furlongs on fast ground from a 2lb higher mark. Aramis Grey is just the pound higher today and has been kept fresh for this race following his Windsor run. He is in the form of his life since returning to turf following two runs on the all-weather in March.
The drying ground is ideal, and I think a fast run and stiff six furlongs can see him run a massive race here at big odds. Callum Sheppard knows the horse well having ridden him in most of his races. Aramis Grey is drawn in stall 13 which looks a good place to be with likely front runners, Lethal Levi drawn 20 & Sergeant Wilko drawn 9.
Ayr 3:35
0.5 point each way Room Service 12/1 Bet365 6 places else 12/1 888sport 5 places.
0.5 point each way Aramis Grey 28/1 Bet365 else 25/1 generally, 6 places.
Compare Odds at https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing
Best of Luck,
Nicky
Past Results
Click to see past Big Saturday Race Preview Tips results
The Ayr Gold Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ayr over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.
History
The event was established in 1804, and it was originally held at Ayr's former racecourse at Belleisle. In the early part of its history it was restricted to horses bred and trained in Scotland. It was initially contested over two separate heats of two miles, and was subsequently a single race with a two-mile distance.
The Ayr Gold Cup became a handicap in 1855, and it was shortened to about a mile in 1870. The Belleisle track closed in 1907, and the race was relocated and cut to 6 furlongs in 1908.
The lightest winning weight in the race since it became a sprint is 6 st 13 lb (44 kg). This was carried to victory by Marmaduke Jinks in 1936. The heaviest is 10 st (63½ kg), the burden of Roman Warrior in 1975. The latter horse, trained at Ayr by Nigel Angus, is the most recent winner trained in Scotland.
The field for the Ayr Gold Cup is formed from the highest-weighted horses entered for the race. The maximum number of runners is currently twenty-five. Those eliminated are now offered the chance to compete in the Ayr Silver Cup, a consolation race introduced in 1992. An event for horses excluded from that race, the Ayr Bronze Cup, was established in 2009.
Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup Heritage Handicap Winners Over The Past 10 years
| Year | Winner | Age | Weight | Jockey | Trainer | SP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Significantly | 5 | 9-02 | Joe Fanning | Julie Camacho | 8/1 JF | |
| 2022 | Summerghand | 8 | 9-05 | Daniel Tudhope | David O'Meara | 12/1 | |
| 2021 | Bielsa | 6 | 9-01 | Kevin Stott | Kevin Ryan | 15/2 | |
| 2020 | Nahaarr | 4 | 9-05 | Tom Marquand | William Haggas | 7/2 F | |
| 2019 | Angel Alexander | 3 | 8-13 | Richard Kingscote | Tom Dascombe | 28/1 | |
| 2018 (dh) |
Baron Bolt Son of Rest |
5 4 |
8-12 9-03 |
Cameron Noble Chris Hayes |
Paul Cole Fozzy Stack |
28/1 5/1 F |
|
| 2017 | Donjuan Triumphant[a] | 4 | 9-10 | P. J. McDonald | Andrew Balding | 13/2 | |
| 2016 | Brando | 4 | 9-10 | Tom Eaves | Kevin Ryan | 11/1 | |
| 2015 | Don't Touch | 3 | 9-01 | Tony Hamilton | Richard Fahey | 6/1 F | |
| 2014 | Louis the Pious | 6 | 9-04 | James Doyle | David O'Meara | 10/1 |
Best of Luck,
Nicky