Ayr Western Meeting starts today

It´s an important day in Scotland, as the Ayr Western Meeting - with its highlight the Ayr Gold Cup on Saturday - starts today. There is also the minor matter of the referendum, but we won´t waste time on that. Today´s main feature is the 10 furlongs handicap at 17.40 CET, which looks very tricky and is further complicated by the fact that 3 trainers have double entries here - Richard Fahey, Keith Dalgleish and Tim Easterby. Fahey won this last year with Hi There, who tries again under top weight with Graham Lee in the saddle, but the ground is possibly too fast for him and we prefer stable companion Ingleby Symphony (Tony Hamilton), a track specialist who is in great form and still nicely handicapped. Easterby´s best hope could be Maven /Rachel Richardson), while Dalgleish´s lightly-weighted 3yo Wee Frankie (Phillip Makin) also looks dangerous. However the other 3yo in the field, Fire Fighting (Mark Johnston/ Joe Fanning) looks the one to beat; he is much improved since being fitted with blinkers, and although he is penalised for winning at Bath last Saturday, he seems to be on an upward curve and can strike again.

Yarmouth´s meeting ends today with a handicap over 1 3/4 miles at 17.50 as the best race. With only 7 runners, this still looks wide open, but Ryan Moore, who celebrates his 31st birthday today, can possibly score here on top-weight, William Haggas´ Dare to Achieve. he was 10 th in the Ebor last time, and this is much easier.

The Listowel Festival continues in Ireland with another mixed card - 4 flat races followed by 3 over jumps and a bumper. Top event here is the handicap hurdle at 17.35. Tony McCoy again has just the one ride- Eddy Harty´s Princeton Plains, who won the race back in 2011; he is well handicapped on that form, but is coming off a long break and the long dry spell in Ireland means that the going will be much faster than usual, which will not suit him at all. The Game Changer (Charlie Swan/ Jonathan Burke) is clearly the best performer here, but we cannot believe that he can concede so much weight, and our two against the field are Macnicholson (Jessica Harrington/ Barry Geraghty) and Pires (Tony Martin/Paul Townend).