AYR'S 2007 VINTAGE ONE TO SAVOUR
Thursday December 20, 2007
CLASSIC MEMORIES FROM 2007
AS Ayr Racecourse looks ahead to
what should be an exciting 2008 its also time to reflect on a
highly successful 2007 at the course with a classic Coral Scottish
Grand National, mouth watering totesport.com Ayr Gold Cup and the
finest ever Doonside Cup in living memory.
Who can forget the look on Ferdy Murphy's face as his horses
Hot Weld, ridden by PJ McDonald and the Graham Lee partnered Nine
de Sivola crossed the line first and second in the Scottish
National.
The former's performance was stunning, making most of the
running before being headed just before two out then getting up
again to hold on from his stablemate. PJ was understandably
delighted and it was fitting that this race put him firmly on the
map, even though he later quit the jumps game for flat racing.
In between the Scottish National and Gold Cup we had a fantastic
Scottish Sun Raceday the highlight of which was the performance of
the Luca Cumani trained, Nicky Mackay ridden Samira Gold in winning
the Scottish Sun Stakes at odds of 7/2.
The totesport.com Ayr Gold Cup went to 20/1 shot Advanced, trained
by Kevin Ryan and ridden by joint champion jockey Jamie Spencer. To
underline the quality of the race the winner was rated 109, the
third highest rated horse in the history of the race to win it.
First Minister Alex Salmond presented the Gold Cup to winning
connections and later he said : "The Ayr Gold Cup is one of my
favourite sporting occasions. It was a great day and Ayr Racecourse
looks magnificent."
Later on Gold Cup day the Doonside Cup was run and it was
undoubtedly the classiest race of the day and won by one classy
filly in Anna Pavlova (4/1), trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by
Paul Hanagan. The filly came with a wet sail to win by a length and
three quarters from Dunaskin (50/1).
2007 will also be remembered at Ayr as the year there was huge
increases in attendances with the Scottish National, Gold Cup,
Scottish Sun Raceday and Ladies Day all being significantly up on
previous years.
With the continuing multi million pound development of the track
there's plenty to look forward to in 2008.
Current News
FIRST FLAT MEETING OF SEASON ON MAY 21
FIRST FLAT MEETING OF SEASON AT AYR
AYR Racecourse holds its first flat
meeting of the year on Wednesday May 21 with a seven race card
coming under starter's orders at 2.00 pm.
First race is the
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RACECOURSE PLANS APPROVED BY SOUTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL
COUNCIL APPROVES RACECOURSE PLANS[IMG: 499 height=
"165" alt="ARTIST"
width="220" align="right" border="0" name="499"]
AMBITIOUS plans to turn Ayr
Racecourse into not only one of the top racecourses
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NEW SPONSOR CONFIRMED FOR AYR GOLD CUP
JOHN SMITH'S TO SPONSOR AYR GOLD CUP[IMG: 498 height="220" alt="AYR GOLD CUP" width=
"165" align="right" border="0" name="498"]
JOHN Smith's is to sponsor the
Ayr Gold Cup Festival, Scotland&
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TOP CORAL NATIONAL CROWD FOR 30 YEARS
CORAL SCOTTISH GRAND NATIONAL ATTENDANCES HIT RECORD HIGH
OFFICIAL attendance figures for the
2008 Coral Scottish Grand National Festival at Ayr Racecourse were
the highest for more than 30 years.[IMG
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