Dalgleish can wrap up title
He’s the man to follow at Ayr meet
The 2017 Flat season at Ayr Racecourse ends today ( Thursday) with a seven race card run on the hurdles track and featuring some highly competitive racing.
Keith Dalgleish could be the man to follow as he attempts to retain his Top Flat Trainer title at the track.
He currently leads Jim Goldie by a point but looks to have an outstanding chance of winning the opening race.
He saddles two here and in Soldier’s Minute looks to have a horse that is more than capable of winning the BEN EBF Novice Stakes at 2pm.
He won on his second start at Musselburgh in a novice race and was then upped in class to run in Listed company at Doncaster and finished a creditable fourth.
He already has a BHA rating of 98 and, with Connor Beasley in the plate, can win this.
A race that look like being one of the best of the afternoon is the William Hill Bet Boost Handicap over a mile and off at 3.35pm.
Jay Kay will be fancied to repeat last week’s win at the track and indeed he has been successful at Ayr no fewer than five times.
But he won’t be having it all his own way here – Michael Dods’s Le Chat D’Or has won four times at the course the most recent being in July and will love the soft going.
But I think I have the answer with the Richard Fahey trained Dark Devil, the mount of Paul Hanagan.
This horse again will love the going and won on heavy ground at Chester in September, following that with a second place at the same track.
I expect Hanagan to get a real tune out of him and he’d be my nap of the afternoon.
Hughie Morrison is a trainer who doesn’t have many runners at Ayr and the fact he sends King Of Scotland on the long trek from his Berkshire yard to contest the one mile five furlong handicap at 4.05pm speaks volumes.
He has secured the services of Danny Tudhope to ride and I think this lightly raced three- year- old will be hard to beat.
My final selection is in the longest race of the afternoon – The William Hill Get The App On Googleplay Handicap over one mile seven furlongs.
Iain Jardine is adept at switching horses from the flat to the jumps and vice versa and in Golden Jeffrey he has a four- year- old who has won two National Hunt flat races – one of those on the heavy at Ayr – two hurdles and a flat contest.
He comes here on the back of having won three of his last four starts and can win for Largs owner Jo Tracey.
So my selections that I will put into a Lucky 15 are: SOLDIER’S MINUTE 2.00, DARK DEVIL 3.35, KING OF SCOTLAND 4.05 and GOLDEN JEFFREY 4.40.
PJ McDonald will be crowned leady Flat Jockey of 2017 at Ayr on Thursday and has two mounts, including one in the one mile one furlong handicap which ends the card on Chinese Sprit for Mike Smith.
PJ is enjoying his best ever season and is a worthy winner of the Ayr title whose previous winners include Paul Hanagan, Fergal Lynch and Paul Mulrennan.
And finally, a word for the aforementioned Mike Smith who saddled Sophie P to win at Musselburgh on Monday.
The mare has won £ 43,000 in prizemoney this season and helped his trainer to a career best season on the Flat. Well done to the Smith team!
Thursday’s meeting is subject to an 8am precautionary inspection.