Danny Tudhope and Pellitory after their Ayr Gold Cup win

Pellitory wins Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup for David O'Meara

Horse Racing

Sat September 19, 2026 · 3h ago

Pellitory held off the challenge of Tuco Salamanca to win the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup for David O'Meara and owner Evan Sutherland.

It was a third Ayr Gold Cup for O'Meara after Louis the Pious and Summerghand and a second for Sutherland who landed the 2013 renewal with Highland Colori.

Ridden by Danny Tudhope, who also won the race on Summerghand four years ago, Pellitory (12/1) emerged the best of the dominant far-side group and was too good for Tuco Salamanca (16/1) by half a length, the pair clear.

Drawn centrally in 16, Tudhope veered over with the bigger far side group and that proved crucial, the winner's stamina kicking in on the heavy ground given he is well proven over seven furlongs.

Flash Harry (28/1, stall 21) and Fine Interview (12/1, stall 25) stayed on the best on the stands' side and they finished third and fourth respectively.

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Tudhope said: "I'm unbelievably proud. This race was on the bucket list and I've won it twice now. Thank you to David and Evan Sutherland.

"We had a choice which way to go and it looked like the place to be was the far side. He's been campaigned over seven and obviously his stamina kicked in and he outstayed them."

O'Meara reflected on his third win in the race saying: "There are some trainers, Dandy Nicholls won it six times and Kevin Ryan has won it five, so we're a long way from that yet.

"Summerghand was out and out six, he's maybe more like Louis The Pious who won a Buckingham Palace over seven.

"We opted to go far side and thankfully it proved to be the right choice.

"You needed to stay well in that ground today. This was the target, we haven't thought beyond this."