WE’RE looking forward to some decent action at Ayr tomorrow when a cracking card is shaping up.
The going, pretty much soft all the way round over fences and hurdles, is perfect jumping ground for the time of year and there are healthy entries for a six-race card that gets under way at 12.40pm.
Jamie Hamilton is riding What A Dream, trained by his aunt Alison Hamilton, in the Racing UK Day Pass Just £10 Handicap Chase. Jamie and What A Dream posted back-to-back course and distance wins in the autumn last year and this October, he rode his first double under Rules at Ayr.
The conditional, from near Hawick, enjoyed an unlikely win at Market Rasen on Thursday when Asunction sprouted wings in the closing stages after looking like a lost cause. At one point in running, the partnership was matched on the betting exchanges at the highest possible odds of 999/1!
Brian Hughes is also likely to be on parade at Ayr after he rode an incredible 31 winners last month. That tally included an amazing five-timer at Musselburgh when his other two rides at the meeting came second.
Mind you, even Hughesy (and everyone else) has a fair way to go to get near the exploits of a certain Sir Anthony McCoy. The all-time great jump pilot posted an unbelievable 40 winners in May 2014 and the ups and downs of being a national hunt jockey are highlighted by the fact that Hughes had 44 mounts in September and drew a complete blank.
ONE of racing’s most famous sets of colours were back in the spotlight at Newcastle last Saturday after the success of Lucinda Russell-trained Revocation.
The striking primrose-and-pink silks, now representing Lady Jane Kaplan, used to belong to her great-grandfather, the Earl of Rosebery. A former prime minster, the fifth Earl was one of the leading owners of the period and won the Derby three times with Ladas (1894), Sir Visto in (1895) and Cicero (1905).
Lord Rosebery was also honorary president of the SFA and Hearts and both have recently re-introduced his colours to feature in their away strips. Lady Jane, a committee member at Perth racecourse, is based at the family’s ancestral home, Dalmeny House in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh.
Don’t forget to check out our Twitter feed (@ScottishRacing) and scottishracing.co.uk for all the latest news.
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