Brando The Godfather In Ayr Gold Cup

It’s a big Saturday at Ayr with the prestigious Ayr Gold Cup the feature race in Scotland and there is a 18/1 shot that shouldn’t go unbacked.

Low Draw Just One Positive
The first three home in Friday’s Ayr Bronze Cup were priced at 20/1, 12/1 and 20/1 and drawn in stalls 5, 7 and 8 respectively so being drawn low certainly was a positive yesterday and…

hopefully that’ll be be the case again with Brando the selection from this corner.

The four-year-old has top weight in the race and will concede weight to all of his rivals with Rob Hornby taking three pounds off Absolutely So but there’s a lot going for Kevin Ryan’s son of Pivotal.

Brando’s form figures this season have been very consistent with his ninth place finish in the Nunthorpe his only time out of the first two in six outings this season and in his 14-race career he has only failed to make the frame on four occasions and one of those was on his second start as a 50/1 shot in a maiden.

That said, Brando’s good form behind Mecca’s Angel, most notably at the Curragh, and beating Monsieur Joe means that he doesn’t hold any secrets from the handicapper so he isn’t blessed with a lot in hand for this competitive handicap. Brando does look a classy sort though and the step back up to six-furlongs and the ease in the ground can make this drop in class prove a very lucrative decision for connections.

Silver Is Better Than Nothing
There is £50,000 up for grabs in the Ayr Silver Cup and a horse that may be familiar to Irish punters is Shipyard who sneaks in at the bottom of the handicap for Michael Appleby.

The now seven-year-old was a Navan maiden winner on just his second outing for Andy Oliver and overall has won five times, been second on eight occasions and third six times so he has been an admirable horse wherever he has been. Good to soft ground has probably been the common denominator for his best runs and…

at 12/1 he is worth taking a chance on each-way.

Queen To Benefit From Grey Day
For the second time in a week Kevin Ryan has been forced to declare The Grey Gatsby as a non-runner and in the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup Stakes…

Dartmouth should be the main beneficiary of that withdrawal.

Ryan Moore’s mount is giving weight to all his rivals but he warrants his place at the head of the market (7/4) with decent form this season.

At Chester he beat the Irish St Leger winer before a career best effort saw him win the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot in beating Highland Reel. Aidan O’Brien’s charge reversed that form next time in the King George but there’s nothing of that quality here to get in the way and Dartmouth is hard to oppose in the absence of The Grey Gatsby.

Recommended Bets:
Dartmouth (13/8) – 1.45 Newbury
Shipyard (12/1) – 2.35 Curragh
Brando (18/1) – 3.45 Ayr

*Prices correct at time of publication.