Sayer’s Redarna looking to get back on top at Ayr
Ayr Racecourse stages its penultimate Flat meeting of 2019 today with a very healthy 97 runners across the eightrace card.
The feature is the Legendary Western House Hogmanay Ball Handicap over seven furlongs at 4.20pm and top weight is Redarna from the Dianne Sayer yard. The gelding has run at the course five times, winning four and finishing second once.
That second place was ten days ago in the Microtech Handicap at the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup Festival when only Wise Counsel proved too good for the five year old. He will be given plenty to do today by the Michael Dods’ trained Get Knotted, while Iain Jardine’s Nubough is another interesting runner in what looks a very good contest.
The opening apprentice handicap is another extremely competitive heat with Mike Smith’s Pudding Chare, going for course win number four, up against a strong field including Ruth Carr’s Abushamah, Linda Perratt’s Chinese Spirit and Cliff Bay from the Keith Dalgleish yard.
Irish trainer Gordon Elliott saddles two runners – Navigate By Stars in the Winter Weddings At Western House Handicap and House Call in the concluding 1m 2f handicap. Gordon has a 33 per cent strike rate on the Flat at Ayr in the past five years and both today’s runners will be ridden by top apprentice Sean Davis.
Meanwhile, at Hamilton yesterday, National League showed braveheart spirit in a battling win to give trainer Richard Fahey a one-two in the feature on the final card of 2019. Sent off a well-backed 2-1 favourite, he was given a powered-packed ride by Paul Hanagan to pip stable companion Spygate by a head in the rearranged £20,000 BB Foodservice 2-Y-0 Series Final.
Hanagan said: “It’s the first time he’s encountered ground anything as soft like this but he’s so tough. Like the second horse, he is a really nice prospect for the future.”
Conga saw off Quirky Gertie by the same margin in the BB Foodservice Fillies’ Handicap and winning jockey Kevin Stott said: “She just didn’t want to be passed. We made most of the running and the other horse might have come alongside but my filly went again.”