Ayr Gold Cup Festival preview, tips, trainer quotes & horses to follow

Here, in the first of his daily pieces, the Scottish Sun columnist and Racing TV analyst highlights some key points to consider as we build towards Saturday’s feature £180,000 Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup, as well as some of the horses to look out for, including an old favourite with an excellent course record.

VOLTERRA (1.20) & SISYPHEAN (1.50)

Racehorse trainers, just like the rest of us, are creatures of habits. And I’m guessing, just like me, Kevin Ryan might be a man who likes to store his CDs in alphabetical order and ensure the labels on the tins of soup and Heinz beans in his pantry all face forwards.

When it comes to late-maturing two-year-olds, you just know he’ll run what he thinks are his best three-year-old prospects in York’s monstrously-rich Convivial Maiden, then send them on to Ayr for the fixture I bet he still fondly refers to as the Western Meeting.

Twelve months ago, Ryan won both juvenile novice contests which kick off three days of action on Scotland’s west coast. In the case of the 7f curtain-raiser, the Hambleton handler is chasing a hat-trick of victories having also landed this race in 2021.

Volterra, a 400,000gns son of Farrh, and Sisyphean, a homebred Dubawi colt, finished within a neck of one another when fourth and fifth on their debuts in the Convivial at last month's Sky Bet Ebor Festival.

Both big, strong types, they shaped with considerable promise, despite having to do much of their running down opposite wings of the Knavesmire.

Ryan splits his hand here, with Volterra - a half-brother to Guilded, winner of Ayr’s Listed Land O’Burns fillies’ sprint over 5f last summer - sticking to the Convivial trip of 7f, and Sisyphean moving up to a mile for the race Ryan won last September with subsequent 2000 Guineas runner-up Hi Royal. Make of that what you will.

The Inside Word: “They both ran solid races in what’s traditionally a very strong maiden at York. Volterra is sticking to the seven furlongs, while Sisyphean is going up to a mile. In terms of their breeding, that looks to be the right move. Ayr is a fantastic meeting. It’s a good galloping track for two-year-olds like ours and these races always fit in nicely after York." - Adam Ryan, assistant trainer

WATCH: Convivial Maiden Stakes at York

A GOLDEN HIGHWAY FOR THE GOLD CUP?

It might be a modest 0-70 handicap, run over a furlong shorter than the Gold Cup, but the only race on Ayr’s straight course on day one will give us a first look at any potential advantage in the draw with an eye on the bigger prizes to come.

With 21 runners declared for the 3.00, this will be the largest line-up assembled for an Ayr sprint since last season’s Gold Cup.

Smaller fields have, by and large, followed an arrowhead formation up the middle of the track this season, but it’s not difficult to foresee that trend being parked this week, with runners splitting into two or even three groups. Or if last year’s Gold Cup won by Summerghand is anything to go by, fanning out right across the track to create a wall or horses from near rail to far.

Two mares with previous in this race are handicapped to return to form, although there are ground concerns for both. One is the Tim Easterby-trained Triple Jaye, who now returns to the scene of her win 12 months ago off a 7lb lower mark following a light campaign that showed signs of igniting at Nottingham two runs ago.

The other is top-weight Sound Of Iona, a previous dual course-and-distance winner who generally comes good at this time of year. Jim Goldie’s charge was runner-up to Thrilla In Manilla two seasons ago off today’s mark of 70, but is now fully 16lb lower than when a two-necks third to Lethal Nymph and Mums Tipple in a 0-105 at Ascot last September.

She’s at her best on a sound surface, however, so any further rain may tip the scales in favour of the progressive American Affair as the pick of Goldie’s five runners.

The Inside Word: “If it’s genuine good-to-soft then Sound Of Iona is a player, but I’m worried the ground may go against her. If there is a golden highway, American Affair is probably the one who’ll be on it from stall 21. He’s a young horse who won well last time at Carlisle. It was quick ground there, but the dam won on soft ground for us and I think he’ll handle it.” - Jim Goldie, trainer

EUCHEN GLEN (3.35)

More than two years has elapsed since Euchen Glen won the last of his 12 races. And the last time he ran over a trip as short as 1m2f was at this meeting 12 months ago. In the interim, he’s been campaigned over pretty much everything from the 1m4f of Haydock’s Old Newton Cup, to the extended two-and-a-quarter miles of a Chester Cup.

Yet there’s something about his record over 10 furlongs, his love of Ayr and slow ground that could just collide to snap that losing sequence at a meeting his tartan trainer Jim Goldie has enjoyed success and heartbreak in almost equal measure down the years.

The very best performances of Euchen Glen’s career have come over this distance. A Group 3 win in the Brigadier Gerard, a Listed race at Sandown. Runner-up in the Doonside Cup at this fixture in 2021 and 2022. An all-the-way winner of a John Smith’s Cup, which preceded his post-injury reincarnation as a versatile Group performer. Scroll back through his Ayr record, too, and you’ll find impressive form figures of 211114224.

Now 10 years young, even Euchen Glen’s most ardent fan would be hard pressed to argue the passing of time hasn’t dulled his powers to some extent from his 2021 peak.

Yet, as his close-up fourth in The Ebor less than a month ago showed, the fire is still some way from being extinguished. Nothing would light up a relatively low-key opening day more than if Goldie’s old boy were to blow the roof of Ayr’s main grandstand with a fifth course win.

The Inside Word: “We made an arse of things with Euchen Glen last time at Haydock, where he probably had a hard enough race. The Kilkerran Cup is a race I like and I think we’re still on a feasible mark, although we’re possibly backing up quick enough. We’ll ride him as if there’s going to be a decent pace and take it from there. This is a bit of a feeler to see where we are with him after Haydock as I’ve got one eye on the November Handicap." - Jim Goldie, trainer

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