William Hill Ayr Gold Cup |
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| Heritage Handicap, Ayr 15:45 £200,000 added, 3yo plus, 6f, Class 2  |
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| Saturday 17th September 2016 | |
1 Brando 11/1
2 Growl 4/1F
3 Hoof It 16/1
4 G Force 10/1
NR: Final Venture, Magnus Maximus
23 ran Distances: 1¼l, ¾l, ¾l
TIME 1m 13.12s (slow by 3.12s)
Brando gives Kevin Ryan his fourth victory in the Ayr Gold Cup
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The highly-progressive joint top-weight was a Group Three winner earlier in the season at Sandown and bounced back to peak form after finishing ninth in York's top-class Nunthorpe Stakes last month.
Drawn over towards the far rail in stall eight, he travelled like a dream for rider Tom Eaves and was kept up to his work to hold 4/1 favourite Growl, bidding to give Richard Fahey back-to-back wins in the valuable handicap, a length and a quarter at bay.
The rejuvenated nine-year-old Hoof It ran a huge race in third at 16/1, while fourth went to former Group One scorer G Force (10/1) for Irish trainer Adrian Keatley.
Brando was adding his name to Ryan's Ayr Gold Cup winning list of Advanced (2007), Our Jonathan (2011) and Captain Ramius (2012), and the trainer said: "It's very special for the owners. They've been coming here for years and are great friends of mine. Angie (Bailey, owner) has always wanted to win this race.
"Angie said to draw stall eight if his name comes out early enough. She picked the stall.
"I always like to go middle to far side and all horses came out early enough for me to do that, so it's worked out."
Eaves added: "He was the class horse in the race, but he needed a bit of luck.
"It all worked out lovely and it's great to ride the Ayr Gold Cup winner. It's the big handicap we want to win up here."
William Hill Ayr Gold Cup (Heritage Handicap)
£200,000 added, 3yo plus, 6f, Class 2
23 ran
Going: Good to Soft
| Pos | Dr | D | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | (8) | Brando 11/1 | T Eaves 9-10 |
K A Ryan | 4 | |
| 2nd | (6) | 1¼ | Growl 4/1f | G Lee 9-1 |
R A Fahey | 4 |
| 3rd | (7) | ¾ | Hoof It 16/1 | Nathan Evans (5) 8-13 |
M W Easterby | 9 |
| 4th | (11) | ¾ | G Force (IRE) 10/1 | C D Hayes 9-2 |
A Keatley | 5 |
| 5th | (10) | ¾ | Kimberella 25/1 | D Allan 9-5 |
D Nicholls | 6 |
| 6th | (14) | nk | Absolutely So (IRE) 10/1 | Rob Hornby (3) 9-10 |
A M Balding | 6 |
| 7th | (4) | hd | Nameit-whatyoulike (ex5) 8/1 | Adam J McNamara (5) 9-6 |
B Smart | 7 |
| 8th | (18) | ½ | Johnny Barnes (IRE) 25/1 | R Havlin 9-5 |
J H M Gosden | 4 |
| 9th | (19) | 1 | Aeolus 25/1 | Hector Crouch (5) 9-7 |
Ed Walker | 5 |
| 10th | (9) | 2½ | Perfect Pasture 50/1 | Graham Gibbons 9-9 |
M W Easterby | 6 |
| 11th | (2) | nk | Sir Robert Cheval 33/1 | T Hamilton 8-12 |
R M H Cowell | 5 |
| 12th | (5) | hd | Jack Dexter 10/1 | F M Berry 9-1 |
J S Goldie | 7 |
| 13th | (3) | 2¼ | Watchable 18/1 | D Tudhope 9-8 |
D O'Meara | 6 |
| 14th | (15) | hd | Rivellino 33/1 | D C Costello 9-0 |
K R Burke | 6 |
| 15th | (13) | ½ | Orion's Bow 12/1 | Barry McHugh 9-6 |
D Nicholls | 5 |
| 16th | (24) | 1¼ | Hillbilly Boy (IRE) 20/1 | R Kingscote 9-6 |
Tom Dascombe | 6 |
| 17th | (1) | ½ | Ascription (IRE) 33/1 | P Makin 9-8 |
K Dalgleish | 7 |
| 18th | (23) | 1 | Poyle Vinnie 25/1 | A Mullen 8-13 |
M Appleby | 6 |
| 19th | (12) | 1¾ | Flaming Spear (IRE) 20/1 | R Winston 8-13 |
K A Ryan | 4 |
| 20th | (25) | ½ | Baraweez (IRE) 33/1 | D Swift 9-2 |
B Ellison | 6 |
| 21st | (22) | ¾ | Lulu The Zulu (IRE) 40/1 | Kevin Stott 8-13 |
M Appleby | 8 |
| 22nd | (17) | 3¾ | Glen Moss (IRE) 33/1 | P Mulrennan 9-4 |
M Dods | 7 |
| 23rd | (16) | 22 | Teruntum Star (FR) 20/1 | P J Smullen 9-0 |
K A Ryan | 4 |
| NR | (21) | Magnus Maximus (ex8) 10/1 | Harry Bentley 9-1 |
R Brisland | 5 | |
| NR | (20) | Final Venture 14/1 | Neil Farley 9-0 |
G A Swinbank | 4 |
