Ayr Gold Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

2024 Ayr Gold Cup Preview

The Ayr Gold Cup has plenty of history with the inaugural running in 1804, staged over six furlongs and open to three-year-olds and upwards and quickly follows on usually a week or so after the six-furlong Portland Handicap at Doncaster's St Leger meeting. There is a consolation race for those who do not make it into the Gold Cup, the Ayr Silver Cup is run on the day whilst on the day prior there is also the Ayr Bronze Cup for those who don't even make it into the Silver Cup!

Funfair Wane won the Ayr Gold Cup in 2002 and 2004 but to find the last back-to-back winner we have to go back to Heronslea in 1930/31. The 2018 renewal saw the first dead heat in its history with Baron Bolt and Son Of Rest sharing the spoils, whilst the 2017 renewal was staged at Haydock due to the track at Ayr being waterlogged.

Ayr Gold Cup Information:

• Ayr Gold Cup Past Winners
• Ayr Gold Cup Trainer Statistics
• Ayr Gold Cup Jockey Statistics

If you are interested in other predictions at Ayr then head over to the Ayr tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at Ayr Racecourse section for links to these.

How competitive is the Ayr Gold Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2004 when the race had an over-round of 121%. The race in 2018 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 145%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Ayr Gold Cup, the over-round has been 136%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £136 which is bet.

Ayr Gold Cup Trends:

• 2024 Ayr Gold Cup Trends
• Ayr Gold Cup Trend Analysis

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Ayr Gold Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 3 winners. Backing all 20 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -3.50. Remember to bookmark the racing tips page so you can get easy access to the OLBG racing picks on a daily basis.

Over the last 20 renewals, it was the Tom Dascombe trained Angel Alexander ridden by Richard Kingscote who set the fastest winning time in the Ayr Gold Cup, the runner won the race in a time of 1:09.26 was set when winning the race in 2019. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Andrew Balding and jockey P J McDonald with Donjuan Triumphant who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 1:17.10 in the 2017 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run Ayr Gold Cup over the last 20 renewals:

• 2019 - Angel Alexander (1:09.26)
• 2014 - Louis The Pious (1:09.53)
• 2021 - Bielsa (1:10.03)

Ayr Gold Cup Past Winners

Here are the Ayr Gold Cup past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Ayr Gold Cup as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Ayr Gold Cup have been based:

• GB: 20 winners with an additional 56 placings from 482 runners
• IRE: 1 winner with an additional 3 placings from 12 runners
• AUS: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
• FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Ayr Gold Cup Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Ayr Gold Cup over the last 20 renewals is Kevin Ryan who has won the race five times with those five winners coming from Advanced (2007), Our Jonathan (2011), Captain Ramius (2012), Brando (2016) and Bielsa (2021). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Ayr Gold Cup are Richard Fahey (2 wins), David O'Meara (2 wins) and Andrew Balding (2 wins). There are multiple trainers who have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Ayr Gold Cup, David Barron (0-22), Jim Goldie (0-18) and Michael Dods (0-14) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.

Here are some of the top Ayr Gold Cup trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

Ayr Gold Cup Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Ayr Gold Cup over the last 20 renewals is Frankie Dettori who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Jimmy Styles (2009) and Redford (2010). There are two jockeys who have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Ayr Gold Cup, David Allan has ridden a total of 12 runners to the race without recording any wins whilst Paul Mulrennan has ridden 12 without a winner.

Here are some of the top Ayr Gold Cup jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

2024 Ayr Gold Cup Trends

Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): (4, 8), 14, 13, 19, 13, 4, 5, 2, 3, 23, 3, 1, 2, 12, 1, 17, 1, 2, 20, (1, 11)

The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well.

• 21 / 21 (76%) - Achieved an RPR of 104+ (Hcps)
• 21 / 21 (78%) - Achieved a TS of 60+ (LTO)
• 21 / 21 (78%) - Achieved a TS of 86+ (Season)
• 21 / 21 (80%) - No bigger than 33/1
• 21 / 21 (81%) - Within the first 19 of the market
• 21 / 21 (83%) - Made 4 - 12 starts (1 Year)
• 21 / 21 (83%) - Achieved a TS of 77+ (Last 3)
• 21 / 21 (84%) - Made 4 - 11 starts (Season)
• 21 / 21 (84%) - Achieved an RPR of 101+ (Class)
• 21 / 21 (85%) - Achieved a TS of 88+ (Hcps)
• 21 / 21 (85%) - Not in a G1-2/LST/Cl5 (Last Win)
• 21 / 21 (87%) - Not in a G3/LST/Cl2-3/Cl6-7 (Debut)
• 21 / 21 (87%) - Off a break of 6 - 50 days
• 21 / 21 (89%) - Carried 123 - 131lbs (Debut)
• 21 / 21 (89%) - Carried 123 - 137lbs (LTO)

Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Ayr racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Ayr Gold Cup. Maybe you are looking to back something in this race on the tote, but you are not sure of the process or how the tote works, No problem! We have an article which is dedicated to The Tote for you to read which explains everything you need to know! Be sure to check out the other articles in the OLBG Betting School.

Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Ayr Gold Cup by adding a tip on the race here.

Ayr Gold Cup Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +56.50 is when runners had 1 place in the past 30 days. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 5 career wins in Flat (Turf) races, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-73.

Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:

• 2023: Winner in 14 (12,8,13) [24 Runners]
• 2022: Winner in 12 (9,18,13) [24 Runners]
• 2021: Winner in 25 (1,16,15) [24 Runners]
• 2020: Winner in 13 (9,11,3) [24 Runners]
• 2019: Winner in 24 (18,9,13) [24 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Ayr Gold Cup is Goodwood, there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Goodwood last time out. The next best courses which have produced the second most winners are Doncaster, Haydock and Ripon, there has been a total number of 3 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 21 winners from a total of 476 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 20 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Ayr Gold Cup:

• Pivotal (3 Wins)
• Dark Angel (2 Wins)
• Invincible Spirit (2 Wins)
• Kheleyf (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Ayr Gold Cup despite multiple attempts:

• Oasis Dream (0 Wins from 17 runners)
• Acclamation (0 Wins from 15 runners)
• Indian Ridge (0 Wins from 9 runners)
• Clodovil (0 Wins from 8 runners)
• Monsieur Bond (0 Wins from 7 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Funfair Wane in 2004, winning for David Nicholls at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of Paul Doe. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there has been a total of 4 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2024 Ayr Gold Cup why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?

Other Principal races at Ayr racecourse

Here are some other notable races at the Ayr racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.

Races in April

• Scottish Champion Hurdle
• Scottish Grand National

Races in September

• Ayr Bronze Cup
• Ayr Silver Cup