THE highlight meeting of the flat season is upon Ayr Racecourse this week with day one of the three-day Ayr Gold Cup Festival arriving on Thursday, September 19. 

The opening day of action sees a packed eight-race card on offer for punters heading to the track, kicking off at 1.42pm with a novice stakes and rounding off at 5.23pm with a class six handicap.

Read below to discover the latest betting tips and a full meeting preview of Ayr’s Thursday card courtesy of Grosvenor Sport.

The opening contest on the card at Ayr to kick the Festival off sees a field of nine two-year-old’s take to the turf for the seven furlong novice stakes in class four (1.42pm).

Jorge Alvares for trainer Kevin Ryan should enjoy the step up in trip here as having hit the frame on all four of his career starts so far, including a fourth in a valuable sales event at York four weeks ago.

Stablemate Bowen Island rates the main danger having made steady progress recently, resulting in a fourth in a York maiden last time out which was a career best.

Race two on the card (2.12pm) is another novice stakes for the two-year-old’s, this time in class five and over the mile distance.

The promising Bambalam looks the one to beat here for trainer Richard Fahey, down in grade here after a fine seventh in the Convivial maiden at York 27 days ago which was a much tougher affair than this for a debut.

Of his rivals, Methgal for the Karl Burke tram can fill the second spot with some reasonable enough form in two starts - a fourth and a seventh - to warrant respect. 

Ten runners will head to post for the class five handicap at 2.42pm to mark the third race of the afternoon and the in-form trainer Jim Goldie sends Water Of Leith to Ayr, a previous course and distance winner and was third of 14 in a Doncaster handicap at the St Leger meeting last week, so he’s the one to beat.

Frank The Spark is a horse on an upward curve and bids for a hat-trick here having won on successive starts at Beverley and Nottingham for trainer Paul Midgely so is sure to be in with a shout too. 

Goldie could secure a quickfire double on the card with Eternal Sunshine in race four (3.12pm), a four-year-old who has four wins and two places in her last six starts and last time out was only beaten by a lenient grade dropper at Musselburgh.

Sugar Hill Babe is taken to get the second spot, a winner at Ffos Las in July and a neck third to Eternal Sunshine at Musselburgh so has to enter calculations here. 

The £30,000 Kilkerran Handicap is the feature race on day one and arrives at 3.42pm with a field of 12 set to tackle the one mile and two furlong trip in class two.

The Charlie Johnston-trained Aviemore, a previous winner at Ayr, was a ready winner last time out just five days ago in a Chester handicap and is turned out quickly here with a two pound rise in the weights for that success he will have to shoulder but can defy that to go back-to-back.

The ultra-consistent Pol Roger enjoys Ayr, with three seconds and a win at this course in his last six outings, so should have say in proceedings along with Oviedo, who has more experience than most in the field in this grade though needs to show improvement from two midfield finishes in big field handicaps at York on his last two spins.

Dancingwithmyself for trainer Michael Bell has strong claims to complete a hat-trick in race six on the card (4.15pm) which is a class four fillies’ handicap.

The three-year-old is certainly progressive in handicaps, winning at Ripon in June before taking it up a level when scoring at the same venue up in trip last month but will have to defy some pressure from the handicapper to complete the three-timer.

Former course and distance winner Yorkshire Lady is feared most, stepping back up to a preferable trip. 

The penultimate race on day one of the Festival (4.48pm) is a 14-runner handicap which can go the way of Never Better for trainer Roger Varian, a winner of a Kempton novice in March who then progressed to a third of 14 on turf debut at Newbury three weeks back.

While the finale (5.23pm) is a very competitive heat that could see trainer Goldie complete a hat trick on the card with Braes Of Doune, a previous course and distance winner and Musselburgh scorer back in August. 

Ayr selections - Thursday

  • 1.42pm - Jorge Alvares
  • 2.12pm - Bambalam
  • 2.42pm - Water Of Leith
  • 3.12pm - Eternal Sunshine
  • 3.42pm - Aviemore
  • 4.15pm - Dancingwithmyself
  • 4.48pm - Never Better
  • 5.23pm - Braes Of Doune