Scottish Sun columnist and Racing TV pundit Ed Watson marks your card for Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup day.
THE COURSE SPECIALIST
THEORYOFEVERYTHING (13:20 Ayr)
A seven-race card opens with a good-quality 1m handicap in which last year’s 1-2 Thunder Roar (3lb) and Theoryofeverything (4lb) both return lower in the ratings and with conditions to suit.
The former hasn’t kicked on this year and reapplied cheekpieces did little to reignite a spark back from a break at Ripon last time. So I can’t quite fathom how at the time of writing he’s half the price of THEORYOFEVERYTHING, who was a winner over today’s course and distance two runs ago. There’s substance to that form, too, with the progressive runner-up Military Order bolting up next time and the sixth also winning since.
A subsequent defeat over 1m2f at Beverley is easily excused and David O’Meara’s grey makes plenty of each-way appeal back on Scotland’s west coast, where his record over this track and trip is a healthy 1281.
Still 2lb below his peak winning mark from last summer, Theoryofeverything is favourably berthed against the fence if Jason Hart, who’s been on board the last twice, chooses to go forward on him. Few ride Ayr better off the front than the all-action Scot, though he has the option of taking a lead from usual pace-pusher Salam Dubawi, who’s drawn immediately outside him in stall two. The selection is Timeform top-rated to boot.
The Inside Track: “I won on him at Ayr two runs ago, but I don’t think the track at Beverley or the trip are what he wants. He’ll be much better suited coming back to 1m at Ayr. He’s a fairly easy ride, so I can go wherever I want to on him.” - Jason Hart, jockey
THE IMPROVER
ETONNANTE (15:05 Ayr)
The Doonside Cup at 1.55 looks a trappy race. On balance, Ice Max strikes as the most likely winner, although the waters are undoubtedly muddied by a couple of lurkers in the shape of Ecureuil Secret and Fast Tracker, who’ll both relish conditions.
A more enticing betting heat is the other Pattern race on the card, the Group 3 Firth Of Clyde Stakes for two-year-old fillies. After flopping in the Albany at Royal Ascot, Silent Beauty got back on the up with a fluent success at Listed level at Ripon three weeks ago. Now 2-3 and proven on good-to-soft (unraced on slower), she deserves her place at the top of the market.
While she could step up again, I’m not sure anything in this field possesses as much scope for better as ETONNANTE, who can provide two-year-old king Karl Burke with a surprising first success in Scotland’s only Group race.
A ready odds-on Ripon winner on debut, the daughter of Havana Grey looked to find the rise to a Group 2 beyond her on her next start, when beating only one home in a deep renewal of the Duchess of Cambridge. I’m not convinced we saw the real Etonnante that day, as she got lit up after taking an early bump and raced with the choke out thereafter. A subsequent wind operation also suggested there may have been something physical amiss.
She returned with a confidence-boosting win eased in grade at Haydock a fortnight ago, which proved she can cope with slower conditions, even if she doesn’t crave them. Further progress should be on the cards, even if I have a nagging suspicion that we won’t see the very best of her until next year.
The Inside Track: “The wind op has helped Etonnante and she ran a blinder last time, even though it was a big drop in class. That wasn’t really her ideal ground at Haydock but her ability got her through. She’s a lovely big filly and we think she’s a good one.” - Clifford Lee, jockey
THE BIG-RACE PLAY
ARDISIA (15:40 Ayr)
Only two three-year-olds have won the Ayr Gold Cup since Funfair Wane - owned and bred by Kevin Keegan’s wife Jean - landed the first of his two strikes in 2002. That was back in an era when Dandy Nicholls’ dominated the sprint scene, and this race in particular.
Hugo Palmer has yet to win Scotland’s richest sprint but has a live chance of doing so with ARDISIA and Stewards’ Cup runner-up Stratusnine. Preference is for the former, the winner of a soft-ground nursery at this meeting 12 months ago during a jaunty juvenile campaign in which he won five of his 12 starts, including Redcar’s Two-Year-Old Trophy, and ended it by running creditably in a Grade 1 at the Breeders’ Cup.
The son of Ardad spent the early part of the year banging heads with the likes of Coppull, Zavateri and Thesecretadversary in Group races on decent ground, but caught the eye back in a handicap when second to the Flash Harry - who he now meets on 6lb better terms - at Goodwood three weeks ago.
Palmer’s charge has amassed plenty more experience this season, while dropping 9lb in the ratings, and with Warren Fentiman booked to claim off another 3lb, a bold bid seems likely from a horse who should relish conditions and the rough-and-tumble nature of this race.
The Inside Track: “Both Ardisia and Stratusnine are in really good order. Ardisia was tremendously tough as a two-year-old, as he showed by running so well over at the Breeders’ Cup. We were a bit worried if he’d grow enough from two to three, but he has. He’s a previous course-and-distance winner at Ayr and a confirmed soft-ground horse who we’ve raced sparingly this year.” - Hugo Palmer, trainer
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