Big fields ready to jockey for position February Raceday set to attract top competition
Racing action returns to Ayr on Monday with the seven race February Raceday which should see some big fields competing for the prizes.
Leading northern trainers including Lucinda Russell, Nick Alexander, Nicky Richards and Martin Todhunter are all likely to have runners as the sport gets back into full swing following the equine flu scare.
The opening race is the Jump To It And Join Racingtv Novice Hurdle over 2m 3f and the class of horse running in this type of contest at the track this season has been high.
Winners have included the Ruth Jefferson trained Buster Valentine who now has a handicap rating of 130 and Gordon Elliott’s Cheltenham bound Galvin.
Monday’s feature race is the Bet At Racingtv. com Novice Chase and this three mile contest could see
Ian Duncan turn out Imperial Prince again after his fine run to be second to Glittering Love at our last meeting earlier this month.
This two time hurdles winner is improving over the bigger obstacles and is due a win.
The afternoon ends with a National Hunt Flat race over two miles where I am sure Nicky Richards will have a horse primed to run a big race.
• More good news on the sponsorship front for Ayr with the news that J& D Pierce Contracts will sponsor the second running of the £ 100,000 Novices’ Championship Handicap Chase on Coral Scottish Grand National Saturday.
The company, based in Glengarnock, is the country’s foremost structural steelwork contractor employing more than 350 staff and specialising in the design, fabrication, painting and site erection of structural steelwork, working with some of the biggest construction projects in the for over 40 years.
The Novices’ Championship Handicap Chase race introduced last year and the 17 runner field was oozing with quality with runners from a host of top stables.
In the end it was the Irish raider Crosshue Boy who won after no fewer than six horses jumped the last with a chance of landing the spoils.
J& D Pierce Contracts Managing Director, Derek Pierce, said : “J& D Pierce are delighted to be involved with this fantastic event for the first time.
“As an Ayrshire business, we like to support organisations such as the iconic Ayr Racecourse, and we look forward to a successful partnership between Ayr Racecourse and J& D Pierce.”
And Ayr Racecourse Managing Director, David Brown, said : “Sponsors are vital to the continued success of racing at Ayr and it’s always a pleasure to welcome not only a new sponsor but one that has its HQ in Ayrshire.
“The Novices’ Championship Chase was a very exciting addition to the Coral Scottish Grand National Saturday card last year and provides another highly competitive quality race on what is the finest day’s jumps racing in Scotland. I look forward to welcoming J & D Pierce to the course.”