ayr gold cup festival

Horse Racing

William Hill Ayr Gold Cup Festival

3 days, 22 races, great horses, top trainers and the best jockeys.  Scotland’s biggest and richest Flat meeting race meeting – the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup Festival – is under starter’s orders!  Tickets are on sale.

The waiting is over for the Ayr Gold Cup Festival and three days of enthralling racing including Scotland’s only Group race plus three Listed races and the Ayr Gold Cup itself and of course its two little brothers – the Silver and Bronze Cups.

But that’s not all there is Ladies Day on Friday with the fabulous Best Dressed Ladies competition boasting incredible prizes and also a Best Dressed Gents competition.  And across the three days there is fantastic entertainment before, during and after racing.

Thursday’s opening day features the William Hill Doonside Cup.  This £65,000 Class 1 Listed race takes place over 1m 2f.  One of the top races of the Flat season at Ayr it has a rich history and a roll call of prestigious previous winners.  There are a total of seven races and the fun continues after the last race with Fusion playing live. 

The middle day of the festival is traditionally Ladies Day.  With fantastic racing and live entertainment it guarantees to be a day to remember. 

On the track there are two Class 1 Listed races, the £40,000 Shadwell Stud/EBF Stallions Harry Rosebery Stakes and the £50,000 Al Maktoum Cup Arran Scottish Fillies’ Stakes.  Off the track and after racing X-Factor and I’m a Celeb star Fleur East will perform a DJ set in the Ayrshire Suite, while top bank the Riffreshers take centre stage in the Princess Royal Suite.

Saturday’s finale is the richest and best day’s racing of the Flat season in Scotland with the Ayr Gold Cup (trophy pictured below) the highlight. 

Photo: Ayr Racecourse

Eight quality races, fantastic entertainment and a true sense of occasion all add to make Ayr Gold Cup day one of Scotland’s iconic sporting events.  The day is built round the £200,000 William Hill Ayr Gold Cup which is one of the most anticipated races of the Flat season.  There are few more exciting sights in racing than to witness 25 of the top sprinters in the land speed down the six furlong home straight at Ayr in their quest for glory.

History was made in 2018 when Son Of Rest, trained in Ireland by Fozzy Stack and ridden by Chris Hayes, dead heated with Baron Bolt from the Paul Cole yard and ridden by Cameron Noble.

There is entertainment throughout the day and into the night including a performance from top live band The Brightside who will play for three hours after racing in the Princess Royal Suite and the ever popular Colin McArdle will DJ in the Ayrshire Suite in the Grandstand.

(Previews courtesy of the Ayr Racecourse website.)

Thursday (Doonside Cup) timings: Gates open 12.10pm, first race at 2pm and last race at 5pm.

Friday (Ladies Day) timings: Gates open 12 noon, first race at 2.10pm and last race at 5.30pm.

Saturday (Gold Cup) timings: Gates open 11am, first race at 1.25pm and last race at 5.30pm.

Tickets in advance are available via the ‘Get Tickets’ link.

Tickets on the day at the turnstiles subject to availability.  Checking the Ayr Racecourse Twitter feed before travelling is recommended.

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