This weekend will see the return of Scotland’s premier flat meeting of the season, as the 2025 Ayr Gold Cup Festival gets underway.
Backed by the stunning beachfronts of Western Scotland, the Festival attracts a healthy crowd of both racing fans and non-racing fans.
Racing highlights across the three-day meeting include both Group races and Listed races, before the event’s headlining contest takes place on the final day – the Ayr Gold Cup.
It serves as a race worthy of its day in the spotlight, boasting the title of being Europe’s most valuable sprint handicap.
Here is everything that you need to know about the 2025 Ayr Gold Cup Festival, as the flat season begins to close.
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When is the 2025 Ayr Gold Cup Festival?
The opening day is Thursday, September 18, with the Ladbrokes Kilkerran Cup headlining the day’s racing.
Ladies Day follows on Friday, featuring our highlight races including the Ladbrokes Ayr Bronze Cup, the British EBF Stallions Harry Rosebery Stakes and the Arran Scottish Sprint EBF Fillies’ Stakes.
Day three, nicknamed Ayr Gold Cup day – is all about the Festival’s namesake and showpiece event – the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup.
It runs on Saturday, September 20, highlighting a card that also features the Ladbrokes Ayr Silver Cup, the Ladbrokes Firth of Clyde Stakes (Group Race) and the Ladbrokes Doonside Cup (Listed Race).
Trainers to watch
Whilst this meeting is no stranger to welcoming big names, leading Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien doesn’t tend to send his horses to Ayrshire – at least for this meeting.
His Ballydoyle contingent has cleaned up at festivals across the UK and Ireland this season, though his perceived absence may pave the way for another trainer to stand in the spotlight.
Leading Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby, alongside father/son duo John and Thady Gosden, make up two of the three trainers trailing O’Brien in the British standings, though it is unlikely that we will see representatives from their yards either.
Andrew Balding is the other trainer in the top four of the Trainers Championship and he is far more familiar with the Scottish lowlands than his nearest competitors.
He has seen his yard take victory in the Ayr Gold Cup twice, most recently in 2017 – a year where the race was run at Haydock, due to a waterlogged course.
Balding has enjoyed a campaign in which he has won a number of prestigious races, notably the City Of York Stakes, and should his horses make the journey north they will arrive in fine form.
Over the last two weeks, his yard is boasting a 16% win rate and has seen 35% of their runners place.
Another renowned trainer that could send his horses northbound is William Haggas, who has seen his yard run into form at both York and Doncaster – over the last month.
Littered throughout these past few weeks are handicap victories across the UK, with his recent record highlighted by a listed win at York and Group Two win at Doncaster.
Haggas is fifth in the Trainers Championship standings, whilst operating at a win rate of 25% over the last 14 days.
Charlie Johnston is another in-form trainer, having seen 12 of his last 19 runners place (four winners) but it may pay dividends to follow Tim Easterby – a man who has quietly gone about his business across Northern courses this campaign.
He is no stranger to Ayr and is somewhat of a course specialist, as his yard have seen 21% of their course runners win this season.
Easterby is also in red-hot form at the moment, with 27 of his last 44 runners place – nine were winners.
Jim Goldie is also worthy of a mention, as his yard is another that does well at Ayr; 22% of his course runners have won this season.
Outside of those, last year’s Ayr Gold Cup winning trainer Karl Burke is operating at a 24% win rate over the last 14 days – with his horses running across the UK, Ireland and France.
Jockeys to watch
It is worth mentioning that this past weekend has seen a shake-up in jockey bookings for a number of reasons.
If Ballydoyle were to send a horse up north, O’Brien would be without star jockey Ryan Moore and regular understudy Wayne Lordan – due to injury and a ban.
The Irish Champions Festival and Doncaster’s St Leger meeting saw Christophe Soumillon stand in for the Irish champion stable, whilst Godolphin sent usual rider William Buick to Canada – where he endured a mixed bag of results.
The Ayr Gold Cup has seen some renowned jockeys claim victory over the years, not least Frankie Dettori – who won it back in 2009 and 2010.
In recent years, Oisin Murphy and Tom Marquand are names that highlight a victors list also including PJ McDonald, Daniel Tudhope, Joe Fanning and Clifford Lee.
The latter two will likely ride for Johnston and Burke respectively, with McDonald likely to sit in the Balding saddle.
Tudhope, meanwhile, is among the course’s top jockeys this season; he has ridden 12 winners from 27 rides.
Paul Mulrennan and David Allan boast a 20% and 21% strike rate at York this campaign and are two more jockeys to follow at the Festival.
How to watch the 2025 Ayr Gold Cup Festival?
ITV will broadcast the action live and for free, on terrestrial TV, on their ITV Racing Programme.
Racing TV (Sky channel 424) will screen their coverage live for their subscribers only.
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