The Ayr Gold Cup has only seen two favourites win since the 80’s and you have to think Fozzy Stack’s raider Son Of Rest can go close because he is now officially 10lbs well-in for his second place finish in a Group 1 at the Curragh last weekend.
He has been all the rage since that performance and as a consequence represents very little punting value at 11/2.
TERUNTUM STAR finished dead last of 20 when bidding to repeat his victory in the Great St. Wilfred Stakes last month. He can be completely forgiven for that run as he stumbled badly at the start, and was never able to get in to it before eventually being eased.
The heavy going conditions should be perfect for him and he is one that looks a bit of value at 16/1 given he tends to produce his best in big-field handicaps. Teruntum Star also looks nicely handicapped off a mark of 99, which is just 1lb higher than his last victory in the Coral Sprint Trophy last October.
His trainer, Kevin Ryan, has saddled four of the last ten winners of this race and Teruntum Star could be the pick of his four runners.
There were several others on the shortlist with it looking a wide-open affair. Flying Pursuit and Muntadab have decent claims as front-runners who like the going.
But there aren’t too many in this that hold as solid a chance as GROWL, who has been running consistently well in big-field handicaps.
Growl finished second in this race in 2016 behind Brando, so we know he handles the track and he has been competing off his current mark of 99 on his last few starts. He has a plumb middle-draw in stall 13 and is beside plenty of pace which should help him as well.
You may argue that the handicapper has got him fairly weighted at the moment, but he seems to prefer races on soft these days and this is the first time he has had these conditions in a good while.
Growl is certainly not a Group 1 level racehorse anymore, but he still has plenty of class and looks set for a big run in the Gold Cup.
0.75pts each-way Growl @9/1, 15:50 Ayr, Saturday (five places, 1/4 odds with Bet365)
0.75pts each-way Teruntum Star @16/1, 15:50 Ayr, Saturday (seven places, 1/5 odds with Skybet)