Ayr Gold Cup Day: Race List & Meeting Info

Day One Races - Doonside Cup Day

EBF Novice Stakes

Class 4, 1m

A race for novices, the event is limited to horses aged two. It’s a Class 4 race that takes place over a mile and tends to last for around a minute and forty seconds. Though the winner nominally stands to take home about £6,000, this is a Plus 10 race, meaning that qualifying horses can also claim a £10,000 bonus.

Cala Homes Handicap

Class 4, 7f 50y

Currently sponsored by Cala Homes, this Class 4 race is open to horses aged three and over that have a handicap rating of between 0 and 85. Run over seven furlongs and fifty yards, it tends to last about a minute and a half, give or take depending on the Going.

Jimmy Lawrie Memorial Handicap

Class 5, 1m

Run in memory of Jimmy Lawrie, this handicap race is a companion event with the one that follows. This is the Division I race and is for horses aged three and over with a rating of between 0 and 75. A Class 5 race, it’s run over one mile and promises the winner a touch over £4,000 in prize money.

Western House Handicap

Class 5, 1m

This is the Division II race that runs alongside the Jimmy Lawrie Memorial Handicap. It’s for horses aged three and over with a rating of between 0 and 75. The Class 5 race is run over a mile and when the Going is Good it will take about a minute and forty seconds for the race to be completed.

Doonside Cup Stakes

Class 1, 1m2f

Thursday’s feature race is the Doonside Cup, which is a Listed race for horses aged three and over. It’s run left-handed over one mile and two furlongs, boasting the following weight information:

• 3-year-olds: 8 stone 7 pounds
• 4-year-olds and over: 8 stone 12 pounds
• Fillies get a 5 pound allowance
• Group 1 and Group 2 race winners get a penalty of 10 pounds
• Group 3 race winners get a penalty of 7 pounds
• Listed race winners get a penalty of 4 pounds

Those penalties for horses that have won other races probably explain why only one has won it twice since 1988. Island House did it in 2000 and 2002, having a different jockey each time. It would be an exaggeration to suggest that the race welcomes the great and good of flat racing, but if you’re looking for a clue then it might be worth having a look at the likes of the Prix de Pomone and the Prix Vermeille, given that Leggara won both of them in 1998 before victory in the Doonside Cup in 1999.

Whilst famous flat racing jockeys like Willie Carson, Richard Hills, Danny Tudhope and Daryll Holland have all won the race more than once, is a race really part of the flat racing circuit if Frankie Dettori’s name isn’t on the winners’ list? It certainly is with the Doonside Cup, leading the way with four wins between 1990 and 2010.

It’s a similar story for the race’s most successful trainers, give that Andrew Balding, Geoff Wragg and John Dunlop have all trained the race’s winner more than once, yet none get close to the five wins managed by Saeed bin Suroor between 2004 and 2016.

EBF Fillies' Handicap

Class 4, 1m2f

Part of the Scottish Premier Series and run in association with the European Breeders Fund, this handicap race is for fillies aged three and over. They’ll need to have a rating of between 0 and 85 to take part in the Class 4 offering, which is run over one mile and two furlongs.

Ayrshire Handicap

Class 5, 5f

Sponsored by Brandinghub Signs & Print at the time of writing, the Ayrshire Handicap is run over five furlongs and is open to horses aged three and over with a rating of between 0 and 70. It’s a Class 5 race that takes about a minute to be completed.

S.T. Andrew Plant Hire Handicap

Class 5, 1m5f26y

This Class 5 race is for horses aged three and over with a rating of between 0 and 70. It’s currently sponsored by S.T. Andrew Plant Hire and is run over one mile, five furlongs and twenty-six yards.

Day Two Races - Ladies' Day

EBF Novice Stakes

Class 4, 7f50y

This race for novices is run in association with the European Breeders Find as well as Al Maktoum College, being for horses aged two. It’s a Plus 10 race, offering a further £10,000 in addition to the £6,000 plus the winner will get, if they’re qualified to earn it. Run over a seven furlongs and fifty yards, it’s a Class 4 offering.

Shadwell Nursery Handicap

Class 2, 6f

This race is for younger horses aged two. It’s a Class 2 offering that is run over six furlongs and has a prize of around £15,000 on offer to the winner. Sponsored by Shadwell Stallions, it takes about one minute and ten seconds for the horses to run the race.

Harry Rosebery Stakes

Class 1, 5f

This Listed flat race is named in honour of Harry Primrose, who was the 6th Earl of Rosebery and was a notable racehorse owner in the twentieth century. It’s run on the straight over five furlongs and is limited to horses aged two. The weight information is as follows:

• Weight: 9 stone 3 pounds
• Fillies & mares get a 5 pound allowance
• Group race winners get a penalty of 5 pound
• Listed race winners get a penalty of 3 pound

Obviously the fact that it’s limited to two-year-olds means that no horse has ever won it twice, though the same is not true for jockeys. Paul Hanagan, John Carroll and Graham Lee have all won the race twice, whilst Tom Eaves leads the way thanks to wins in 2005, 2007 and 2013. Richard Hannon Sr., Richard Fahey and Karl Burke are the race’s most successful trainers, winning it twice each to date.

Fillies' Sprint Stakes

Class 1, 5f110y

This Listed flat race is limited to mares and fillies aged three and over, though Group 1 winners since the 31st of March are excluded from being able to enter it. Run on the straight over five furlongs and one hundred and ten yards, it has the following weight information attached:

• 3-year-olds: 8 stone 12 pounds
• 4-year-olds and over: 9 stone 0 pounds
• Group 2 winners since March 31st get a penalty of 7 pounds
• Group 3 winners get a penalty of 5 pounds
• Listed race winners get a penalty of 3 pounds

The race should have been run for the first time in 2017 at Ayr but couldn’t because the course was waterlogged. As a result it was moved to Musselburgh in October, where Mabs Cross won it over the slightly shorter distance of five furlongs, with Paul Mulrennan on her back and Michael Dods taking training duty.

Dods was also the trainer of the 2018 winner, Intense Romance. The four-year-old was ridden by Callum Rodriguez and took around eleven seconds longer to complete the race than Mabs Cross had done because it was ridden over the race’s correct length. Mabs Cross won the Palace House Stakes and the Prix de l’Abbaye in 2018, earning herself the Cartier Champion Sprinter award. She won the Palace House Stakes again in 2019.

Ayr Bronze Cup Handicap

Class 2, 6f

Currently sponsored by the British bookmaker William Hill, the Ayr Bronze Cup is a Class 2 race for horses aged three and over. It’s run over six furlongs and there’s close to £19,000 on offer to the winning horse.

BAM Properties Handicap

Class 3, 2m1f105y

This handicap offering is run over two miles, one furlong and one hundred and five yards. Sponsored by BAM Properties Limited at the time of writing, the event is for horses aged four and over with a rating of between 0 and 95. It’s a Class 3 race that will take a little under four minutes for the participants to complete.

H&V Handicap (Div I)

Class 5, 1m

The H & V Commissioning Services Limited Handicap is split into two divisions, with Division I being run over one mile. It’s for horses aged three with a rating of between 0 and 70. A Class 5 race, it lasts for about one minute and forty seconds and the winner takes home just shy of £5,000.

H&V Handicap (Div II)

Class 5, 1m

Also sponsored by Commissioning Services Limited, the Division II race matches pretty much the same brief as the Division I event. It’s a Class 5 race that is run over a mile and is open to three-year-olds with a rating of between 0 and 70. There’s also around £5,000 on offer to the winner and the race lasts for one minute and forty seconds, give or take.

Day Three Races - Ayr Gold Cup Day

EBF Nursery Handicap

Class 2, 1m

Run in association with the European Breeders Fund, this race is for young horses and is therefore limited to those aged two. Run over one mile, this Class 2 offering tends to last for about a minute and a half and promises about £12,500 to the winner.

William Hill Handicap

Class 2, 1m

Sponsored by the William Hill Foundation at the time of writing, this handicap race is open to horses aged three and over that have a handicap rating of between 0 and 105. It’s run over a mile and is a Class 2 offering.

Ayr Silver Cup Handicap

Class 2, 6f

Another race during the meeting that is sponsored by William Hill, the Silver Cup is a handicap event for horses aged three and over. Run over six furlongs, it’s a Class 2 event that takes horses around a minute and ten seconds to complete. The one that achieves it the fastest will win about £37,500 for doing so.

Firth Of Clyde Stakes

Group 3, 6f

The Firth of Clyde Stakes is run over six furlongs on the straight and is open to two-year-old fillies. The weight information says that the horses carry nine stone, though Group 1 and Group 2 race winners also get a penalty of five pounds whilst Group 3 race winners get a penalty of three pounds.

The Firth of Clyde, which lends its name to the race’s title, is an area of water just off the coast of Ayr. The race was Listed initially and then moved to Group 3 in 2004. It has maintained that rating since and is the only Group race that is run in Scotland at the time or writing.

The race has, rather obviously given the age limit, never been won more than once by the same horse. Perhaps the best known of those that have won it is Airwave, who won the Firth of Clyde Stakes in 2002 and the Cheveley Park Stakes the same year. She went on to win the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park the year after, the Land O’Burns Fillies’ Stakes in 2004 and the Ridgewood Pearl Stakes at Curragh in 2005.

Prior to the 2019 running, only three jockeys had won the race twice. They were Keiron Fallon, Paul Mulrennan and, of course, Frankie Dettori. Roger Charlton and Bryan Smart have both trained more than one winner, but Barry Hills saw a horse he had trained win the race four different times in the 1980s and 1990s to lead the win as far as the most successful trainer is concerned.

Ayr Gold Cup

Class 2, 6f

Where else to start, though, thank with a look at the feature race of the entire weekend? The Ayr Gold Cup was first run in 1804 at Belleisle, the racecourse that used to exist in Ayr before the current one. Back then it was a chance to show off the best and brightest of Scottish racing, being restricted as it was to horses that had been bred and trained north of the border.

It also used to be two races rather than one, run over two miles in each heat. It was then shortened to being a single two-mile race. It was made a handicap offering in 1855 and shortened further to a mile in 1870. When the Belleisle track was closed down in 1907 the race was relocated, being shortened to its current length the following year.

Currently the Ayr Gold Cup is run on the straight over six furlongs and is open to horses aged three and over. It’s run on the flat, of course, which is one of the biggest differences between it and the race of the same name that takes place at Cheltenham. It’s also a handicap race, meaning that the weights are decided by the handicapper.

Since it was made into a sprint the lightest weight of a winner was six stone and thirteen pound, carried by Marmaduke Jinks in 1936. Conversely, the heaviest weight was the ten stone that Roman Warrior won with in 1975. Roman Warrior was a fitting winner considering the race’s early rules, given that he was trained in Scotland and was the last winner of the race to be so.

The maximum number of horses that are allowed to enter the race at the time of writing is twenty-seven, with the highest-weighted horses getting the honour. Those that don’t get to enter the race are invited to take part in the Ayr Silver Cup, which is also run during the Festival and was established in 1992. Even that race left some horses out, though, so the Ayr Bronze Cup was created in 2009 as a consolation race for the consolation race.

Since 1980 only one horse has won the race once, with Funfair Wane doing so in 2002 and 2004. If you look at the all-time records, however, then Dazzle holds the record for wins, managing to do so three times between 1889 and 1891. If you’re looking for a hint about how horses will do in this race then look to the Stewards' Cup, run at Goodwood earlier in the summer. Lochsong in 1992 and Coastal Bluff in 1996 are examples of horses that won both in the same season.

Equally, if you’re hoping to learn something from the race then look out for horses that win it and then enter the Nunthorpe Stakes at York the following year. Both Lochsong and Coastal Bluff as well as Bahamian Pirate won this race before winning the Nunthorpe Stakes; though it’s worth acknowledging that the first two horses did so the following year whilst Bahamian Pirate won this in 2000 and then the Nunthorpe Stakes in 2004.

The leading jockeys for the race are ones that haven’t been racing for some time, given that Tom Nicholson won his four Gold Cups between 1827 and 1834 and William Noble won the same number between 1836 and 1843. In more modern times Darryll Holland, Frankie Dettori, Jimmy Fortune, and John Lowe have all won the race twice apiece.

There’s also a standout trainer for the race if you’re willing to delve into the history books, given that Tom Dawson trained the winner fifteen times between 1835 and 1869. Again, a number of trainers have won the race twice or more in the modern era, including Richard Hannon Sr., Richard Fahey and Peter Easterby, yet it’s David Nicholls who leads the way with six wins between 2000 and 2010.

William Hill Handicap

Class 2, 1m2f

A Class 2 race that is run over one mile and two furlongs, the Kilkerran Cup, as the race is also known, is for horses aged three and over. They’ll need to have a rating of between 0 and 100 if they hope to take part. The winner can take home over £15,500 in prize money.

Microtech Group Handicap

Class 3, 7f

A race for horses aged three and over with a rating of between 0 and 95, this handicap race is sponsored by the Microtech Group. The event is run over seven furlongs and fifty yards and is a Class 3 race. Winning horses can take home just shy of £10,000.

Jordan Electrics Handicap

Class 3, 1m5f

Sponsored by Jordan Electrics Limited at the time of writing, the race is run over one mile, five furlongs and twenty-six yards. It’s for horses aged three and over and they’ll need to have a rating of between 0 and 90 to take part. The Class 3 race promises more than £11,500 in prize money and takes less than three minutes for the race to be completed.