Ayr - Late August Meeting

AYR – Wednesday August 26th + Thursday August 27th

Going – Soft (Wednesday), Soft, Good To Soft in places (Thursday)

Time constraints meant that I’ve struggled to do a full review of this meeting, but I hope to have captured a few key performances over the two days.

The round course was back in action following July’s problems and things went smoothly.

Goldolphin’s GOLDEN SHAHEEN lost out to the once raced Tut in the opening maiden but there was plenty of promise in the performance. He looked very green early on and took an age to get the hang of the job. However he picked up nicely towards the finish and will benefit from the outing.

As is his day Sir Mark Prescott has VALID POINT on a nice low mark and this one should be capable of running up a sequence after winning the 2.40, a 46-65 Handicap over 1m 2f. HE needed a bit of urging after being headed three out, but responded well and comfortably held the upper hand in the final furlong.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE was an impressive winner of the 61-80 mile handicap. On the face of it his record of 4 from 47 is nothing to shout about, but he hasn’t encountered soft ground much in recent times and his four wins have come with cut. If he’s kept on the go now the ground is soft there’s every chance he’ll win again. His career record on ground listed as ‘Soft’ or ‘Heavy’ is 21513231 and even the 5th was in a field of 21. That tells a story. He’ll be bumped up plenty for a 6 length win but that might not stop him.
TOM TOWER set a decent pace but had no response to Collateral Damage. However, he kept on determinedly enough to battle for second if just losing out and looks placed to pick up a lower class event in these conditions, maybe 0-70 or 0-75.

HOLLOW GREEN has been in rattling good form all season and picked up a sixth win when holding off a competitive 66-85 field over 1m 2f. She’s often just done enough to win and there may still be a little more in the tank. She has run mainly on fast ground but her record on Soft/Heavy is 121 and she’s worth keeping in mind in the coming weeks.
SHALOO DIAMOND ran to form in second though is probably as high as he would want to be now.
RED JADE has been lightly raced and his second here may presage a winning performance in the autumn since he’s now 8lbs lower than early in the season. He is a winner in soft ground.

AGENT BOO put up a decent performance to win the six furlong nursery which opened the Thursday card. Going with a strong pace from the start he had enough in hand to run on for victory. This was his first time in soft ground.
CHARITY FAIR was slow away and feeling the pinch after two furlongs. She stayed on well in the latter stages and probably has enough about her to pick up a race at the lowest level.
COOLELLA struggled with the pace and looks to need farther than six furlongs.

JOHN FORBES galloped on well to land the 1m 5f 46-65 handicap from BAAHER, the pair clear of the remainder. JOHN FORBES doesn’t do things in hurry but gallops on determinedly, generally giving his running, and this may tune him up for a hurdling campaign. BAAHER is lightly raced on the flat and might be placed to pick up a similar event in the coming weeks. He has some fair maiden hurdling form and Jim Goldie might place him to pick up a handicap in that sphere.

HOLD ON TIGER won the two-year-old maiden auction on the nod from much improved LILYANNABANANA, the latter not sighted in two previous efforts.
The one that may be of interest in time is SUMAY BUOY from the Milnathort yard of Jean McGregor. He was green and struggled early on, but picked up a bit for encouragement in the latter stages. This one may be worth keeping tabs on.

The remainder of the card was contested by mainly exposed handicappers and I can’t be confident of picking out anything which could get a jump on the official ratings.