Whoshotthesheriff can be a TV star

Ayr will feature on ITV Racing’s coverage today with the first three races being shown live following the abandonment of Sandown’s card.

The feature race is the Tennent’s Lager Handicap Hurdle for the Craigie Cup, which has a small but select band of six runners.

They include course winner Whoshotthesheriff from the Philip Kirby yard, who is the mount of Sean Quinlan.

His main rival looks to be Better Getalong, trained by Nicky Richards and ridden by Ryan Day who has also won over the track.

The opening race is the Tennent’s Light Handicap Chase, at 1.55pm, where the top weight is Drumconnor Lad – Adrian Keatley’s first runner in Britain since he relocated to Malton from Ireland. Jockey AP Heskin’s only mount of the afternoon won last time out at Leopardstown. The opposition includes Nick Alexander’s Clan Legend, Lucinda Russell’s Vengeur de Guye and Willie Young’s Ardera Cross – all of whom have course form in the bag.

Gordon Elliott sends two runners from Ireland – Aero Mjaestic in the Caledonia Best Handicap Hurdle and Democratic Oath in the concluding Tennent’s Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race. Both will be ridden by Richard Johnson, pictured. In addition to Better Getalong, two more Nicky Richard runners who look to have chances are the lightly raced Marown in the Menabreanovices’hurdleand Castle Rushen, who contests the bumper. Brian Hughes, who currently leads Johnson by 21 winners in the jockeys’ championship, takes both mounts.

At Wolverhampton, Urban Icon can get this season off to a flying start in the Bombardier British Hopped Amber

Beer Lady Wulfruna Stakes. Richard Hannon’s colt took on some of the best on turf as a three-year-old, and ran with significant credit throughout.

Urban Icon started off 2019 in the Greenham Stakes, having won both starts as a juvenile.

Third in the Newbury Group Three, he was not disgraced in the 2000 Guineas and ran well in all his three subsequent races, too, including when fourth in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Urban Icon faces some very useful opponents, of course, on this first start since the Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket in July. Once again, however, he put up another performance in third there that suggests he can make his class count in this Listed contest.

Ryan Moore replaces his regular jockey Tom Marquand for the first time on Urban Icon’s all-weather debut but that, of course, is no detriment.

Via Serendipity was a cheeky winner on his first visit to Dunstallparkamonthago,andcan repeat the trick in the Bombardier Golden Beer Lincoln Trial Handicap.

Hayley Turner delivered Stuart Williams’ six-year-old with perfection to collar Fox Power close home and score by half a length.

The six-year-old is on an unchanged rating for this switch back to top handicap company, but must still concede weight all round.

He is nonetheless the most likely winner of a tight heat.