NAP of the Day: Gweedore can return to form at Ayr

There are five meetings across Britain and Ireland on Monday, with the action coming from Ayr, Lingfield, Roscommon, Ripon and Wolverhampton. Ayr’s feature race is the Class 4 Ayr Silver Cup Trial and it is shaping up to be an interesting event, with a competitive collection of runners in the line up.

Our nap of the day represents the Katie Scott yard and although her flagship performer has never won over 6f, that could be set to change. The horse in question is a six-time course winner and should be going close off this sort of mark. Read on for my NAP of the Day.

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A substantial prize pot of £20,000 is on offer for the Ayr Silver Cup and, unsurprisingly, that has attracted a large field of 18 and it should be a compelling race. Katie Scott runs nine-year-old GWEEDORE and he looks set for a big run.

The nine-year-old has had 13 previous starts at the track and has six victories to his name. That bodes well for another big run and although age is catching up with him, he can win a race or two more.

It has not been the best of seasons so far for the son of Epaulette but the handicapper is consistently dropping him in the weights. The more his mark drops, the more interesting a proposition he becomes, especially as he drops into 0-85 company for this race.

Scott’s gelding has not qualified for a race of this level for a very long time and it would be no surprise if he can take full advantage. He is now down to a mark of 85 and it is worth noting that his most recent success came over 7f at Musselburgh off 87 in November.

While he is yet to win in seven starts over 6f, he has finished third on two occasions and did particularly well to finish third in the 2023 Coral Sprint Trophy at York, despite being drawn on the wrong side of the track. A strong pace should make this a sufficient test of stamina.

Rebecca Menzies’ Daizen is worth keeping an eye on, as the three-year-old returned to winning ways at Thirsk last time out and receives a 6lb age allowance. Here Forever won his maiden in very good style last term and could be involved if producing a similar effort.

Gweedore is a very capable performer and runs his race more often than not at Ayr, so that combined with his declining handicap mark bodes well for a return to the winners’ enclosure.

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