Record prize money for Gold Cup Festival at Ayr Racecourse

By: Iain Ferguson

THE richest flat horse race meeting in Scotland - the John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup Festival at Ayr Racecourse - has been given a huge cash boost with prize money for the meeting next month topping £600,000 - a £100,000 increase on last year.


[Pictured: Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond with last year’s Ayr Gold Cup winning jockey Jamie Spencer. CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO VIEW / DOWNLOAD FULL -SIZE VERSION.]

The Festival runs from Thursday 18 September until Saturday 20 September and features a Group 3 race, two Listed Races and the Gold and Silver Cups.

The prize fund for the John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup, run on Saturday September 20, rises by almost £30,000 to £150,000 with the winner taking home £93,465 while the Silver Cup run the day before is worth £50,000, a £15,000 hike from last year.

Two other major races on the Saturday – The Laundry Cottage Stud Firth Of Clyde Stakes, a Group 3 event, and the Doonside Cup, a Listed Race, have cash pots of £80,000 and £60,000 respectively. In total over the three days there will be £606,000 in prize money.

Ayr Racecourse managing director Richard Johnstone said: “Last year we hit the £500,000 mark in prize money at the Gold Cup Festival for the first time, so to jump over £100,000 in a year is a very significant rise.

”We have attracted an early entry of 171 horses for the John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup with around 25 of them rated 100 or higher so there is no doubt that top prizes attract top horses.

“The Doonside Cup also benefited last year from a cash boost, and we saw a race featuring some outstanding horses with Anna Pavlova winning. I think we are in for another treat this year.”

Advance bookings are being taken for the John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup Festival and there are discounts available on bookings made seven or more days in advance. Book online at www.ayr-racecourse.co.uk or call 0870-8505666.

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Ayr Racecourse announces John Smith’s to sponsor Ayr Gold Cup

By: Iain Ferguson

JOHN SMITH'S is to sponsor the Ayr Gold Cup Festival, Scotland’s top horse racing event of the flat season which includes the richest sprint handicap in Europe - the Ayr Gold Cup.

The drinks brand, synonymous with the sport through their long standing sponsorship of the Grand National at Aintree, will be the main sponsors for the three-day Festival in September, replacing the Tote who had sponsored the race since 2001.

The first John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup will be run on Saturday 20 September, the third and final day of the 2008 John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup Festival.

Announcing the sponsorship deal, Scottish & Newcastle regional sales director Alasdair Moore said: “We are delighted John Smith’s will be the new sponsors of the Ayr Gold Cup. The race is famous throughout Europe, and this is a tremendous opportunity for us.”


Ayr Racecourse chairman Alan Macdonald (pictured above) said: “I am thrilled to welcome John Smith’s - one of the most famous names in racing - to be the new sponsor of the Ayr Gold Cup Festival. The biggest race of the Festival is the Ayr Gold Cup itself, and the John Smith’s sponsorship is set to increase the prize money on offer for the big races on the Friday and Saturday.

“The John Smith’s Ayr Silver Cup run on Friday, which is Ladies Day, will be run for a total prize fund of £50,000 - a tremendous sum considering this is a consolation race. The main race of the Festival, the John Smith’s Ayr Gold Cup, will now have a fantastic £150,000 prize fund, which will ensure that this will be a target for all the top trainers.

“Since we took over Ayr Racecourse, John Smith’s have been a great supporter, and have played a significant role in the course’s resurgence. My thanks go to Scottish & Newcastle for this further commitment.”

The Ayr Gold Cup was first run in 1804 and won by Chancellor, also the winner the following year. The first Ayr Gold Cup to be staged on the current Ayr track was in 1907, and was won by Mr. R. Waldie Griffith’s Charis, a five year-old trained by R. Sherwood.

Last year’s race was won by Advanced, trained by Kevin Ryan and ridden by Jamie Spencer and over the three days crowds of 22,630 flocked to the course, the highest attendance for more than 30 years.

www.ayr-racecourse.co.uk

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