Ayr Horse Racing Tips for Saturday

Saturday's card at Ayr centres on devilish handicaps, headlined by the feature Ayr Gold Cup in which 25 sprinters will charge down the straight six furlongs.

The Silver Cup, essentially the same for horses rated a little lower, acts as a support event along with the Listed Doonside Cup and Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes.

Here are the latest horse racing betting tips for Saturday's card at Ayr from the Racing Post's Keith Melrose.

Saturday's Ayr Horse Racing Betting Tips and Odds

13:50 Ayr - Enfjaar @ 4/1
14:25 Ayr - Brooklyn Nine Nine @ 5/1
15:35 Ayr - Room Service @ 16/1

13:50 Ayr - Enfjaar @ 4/1

There will have been few better handicap performances this season than when Enjfaar narrowly went down when running off 105 at Glorious Goodwood and he is well worth persevering with at Listed level.

This summer, Enfjaar had already won the John Smith's Cup at York in convincing style. He could have gone into Listed and Group races then, but instead was aimed at another handicap at Goodwood when he went down by a neck to Take Heart. 

Enfjaar was clearly the moral winner that day. He was set plenty to do in comparison to Take Heart, but was gaining on him all the way to the line. It was the performance of a Group horse, let alone one worthy of a crack at Listed level.

By way of proof, according to Racing Post Ratings only two of the last 10 winners of the Doonside Cup have a rating higher than Enfjaar's 117. He hung at York last time, but with another four weeks off he should be fresh enough to do himself justice. The persistence of summer-like ground will help, too.

14:25 Ayr - Brooklyn Nine Nine @ 5/1

As ever, in both the Silver Cup and Gold Cup you could come down on any one of at least 10 horses and be able to make a compelling case. There is a reason bet365 are offering six places on each race.

In the Silver Cup, the most appealing is Brooklyn Nine Nine, who has continually caught the eye this season. He was never off the bridle when he ran at York in May, having been on the side furthest from the action and getting into all sorts of trouble as he picked his way through.

A break followed and Brooklyn Nine Nine was backed at Ascot on his return to action. That was over five furlongs, and he looked like it happened just a little too quickly for him but he was still able to keep on strongly to chase home a course specialist.

There is a good chance he has been kept back with races like the Ayr Silver Cup in mind. Returning to 6f is likely to help Brooklyn Nine Nine, while a central draw in 15 gives rider Connor Murtagh options when it comes to knowing which side to follow. 

15:35 Ayr - Room Service @ 16/1

It may be less of a prerequisite than used to be the case, but a bit of star quality is often what is needed when it comes to the Ayr Gold Cup. The clear qualifier from this year's field is Room Service, who started the season as a wildcard Classic hope and still has the promise to become a Pattern-level sprinter.

It was this time last year when Room Service burst onto the scene, winning at Doncaster's St Leger meeting. He was given a shot in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury, failing to stay, and he didn't get much luck in running in a Commonwealth Cup trial back at Newbury next time.

Given a break after, Room Service won well at Pontefract in July, despite giving the others a head start at a track where winners rarely come from the back. He has a positive draw here and comes into this race fairly unexposed. Given Kevin Ryan's record in the Ayr Gold Cup, he is unlikely to have landed here by accident.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.