Ayr Gold Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

If you are a fan of horse racing trends, then this preview of the Ayr Gold Cup will be perfect for you! Not only do we look at the trends, but we look at past winners as well as trainer and jockey records for the Ayr Gold Cup, a race run over 6f at Ayr.
Ayr Gold Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Expert Guide

You know how punters get lost in too much data or bet blindly? I break down the stats and trends so you can feel confident you’re betting with more than just gut instinct.

2025 Ayr Gold Cup Preview

The Ayr Gold Cup has plenty of history, with the inaugural running in 1804, staged over six furlongs and open to three-year-olds and upwards, and it usually follows on a week or so after the six-furlong Portland Handicap at Doncaster's St Leger meeting.

There is a consolation race for those who do not make it into the Gold Cup; the Ayr Silver Cup is run on the day, whilst on the day prior, there is also the Ayr Bronze Cup for those who don't even make it into the Silver Cup!

Funfair Wane won the Ayr Gold Cup in 2002 and 2004, but to find the last back-to-back winner, we have to go back to Heronslea in 1930-31. The 2018 renewal saw the first dead heat in its history with Baron Bolt and Son Of Rest sharing the spoils, whilst the 2017 renewal was staged at Haydock due to the track at Ayr being waterlogged.

Ayr Gold Cup Information:

If you are interested in other predictions at Ayr, then head over to the Ayr tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Other Principal Races at Ayr Racecourse section for links to these.

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How competitive is the Ayr Gold Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2006 when the race had an over-round of 122%. The race in 2018 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 145%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Ayr Gold Cup, the over-round has been 137%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £137 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2025 Ayr Gold Cup Trends. See which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal. We also have a section that looks at the Ayr Gold Cup Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run Ayr Gold Cup races over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Lethal Levi (1:07.75) in 2024
  2. Angel Alexander (1:09.26) in 2019
  3. Louis The Pious (1:09.53) in 2014

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 20 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the Ayr Gold Cup next time out, then you would have backed a total of 3 winners. Backing all 21 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of -4.50. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2025 Ayr Gold Cup.

Over the last 20 renewals, it was Lethal Levi, trained by K R Burke and ridden by Clifford Lee, who set the fastest winning time in the Ayr Gold Cup. That runner won the race in a time of 1:07.75 in 2024. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Andrew Balding and jockey P J McDonald with Donjuan Triumphant who set the slowest winning time; the race-winning time was 1:17.10 in the 2017 renewal.

What the expert says...
Not really a solid route in or out of this race, although both the 2020 & 2021 winners come from the Stewards Cup.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Ayr Gold Cup Past Winners

Here are the Ayr Gold Cup past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won, along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Ayr Gold Cup are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2024
1:07.75
Lethal Levi (GB)
5yo 9-7 (20 of 25) 20/1
Clifford Lee
K R Burke (GB)
2023
1:10.77
Significantly (GB)
5yo 9-2 (14 of 24) 8/1F
Joe Fanning
Julie Camacho (GB)
2022
1:10.82
Summerghand (IRE)
8yo 9-5 (12 of 24) 12/1
Daniel Tudhope
David O'Meara (GB)
2021
1:10.03
Bielsa (IRE)
6yo 9-1 (25 of 24) 15/2
Kevin Stott
Kevin Ryan (GB)
2020
1:11.65
Nahaarr (IRE)
4yo 9-5 (13 of 24) 7/2F
Tom Marquand
William Haggas (GB)
2019
1:09.26
Angel Alexander (IRE)
3yo 8-13 (24 of 24) 28/1
Richard Kingscote
Tom Dascombe (GB)
2018
1:14.77
Son Of Rest (GB)
4yo 9-3 (17 of 25) 5/1F
Chris Hayes
J A Stack (IRE)
2018
1:14.77
Baron Bolt (GB)
5yo 8-12 (21 of 25) 28/1
Cameron Noble (5lbs)
Paul Cole (GB)
2017
1:17.10
Donjuan Triumphant (IRE)
4yo 9-10 (4 of 17) 13/2
P J McDonald
Andrew Balding (GB)
2016
1:13.12
Brando (GB)
4yo 9-10 (8 of 23) 11/1
Tom Eaves
Kevin Ryan (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Ayr Gold Cup have been based:

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 56 placings from 483 runners
  • IRE: 1 winner with an additional 3 placings from 12 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
  • AUS: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

2024 Ayr Gold Cup Replay


Ayr Gold Cup Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Ayr Gold Cup over the last 20 renewals is Kevin Ryan, who has won the race five times, with those five winners coming from Advanced (2007), Our Jonathan (2011), Captain Ramius (2012), Brando (2016) and Bielsa (2021). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Ayr Gold Cup are Richard Fahey (2 wins), David O'Meara (2 wins) and Andrew Balding (2 wins). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Ayr Gold Cup. David Barron (0-21), Jim Goldie (0-19) and Michael Dods (0-18) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.

Here are some of the top Ayr Gold Cup trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
Kevin Ryan58-5-8+12.50-1.54
Richard Fahey55-2-12-31.00-15.24
David O'Meara27-2-5-3.00-4.24
Andrew Balding13-2-2+15.50+5.56
K R Burke11-1-4+10.00+18.25
Clive Cox10-1-1+5.00-0.25
William Haggas7-1-2-2.50-1.31
Tom Dascombe5-1-1+24.00+13.50
Julie Camacho1-1-1+8.00+5.00
J A Stack1-1-1+5.00+3.13

Ayr Gold Cup Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Ayr Gold Cup over the last 20 renewals is Frankie Dettori, who has won the race two times, with those two winners coming from Jimmy Styles (2009) and Redford (2010). Two jockeys have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Ayr Gold Cup. Paul Mulrennan has ridden 13 runners in the race without recording any wins, whilst David Allan has ridden 12 without a winner.

Here are some of the top Ayr Gold Cup jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Frankie Dettori4-2-2+26.00+15.50
Daniel Tudhope18-1-2-5.00-5.87
Tom Eaves16-1-2-4.00-5.12
Tony Hamilton10-1-3-3.00+1.25
P J McDonald9-1-2-1.50-1.19
Joe Fanning7-1-1+2.00-1.00
Kevin Stott7-1-1+1.50-1.31
Richard Kingscote6-1-2+23.00+13.37
Franny Norton6-1-1+6.00+1.88
Clifford Lee4-1-1+17.00+9.50

Ayr Gold Cup Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +52.50, is when runners had 1 place in the past 30 days.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 5 career wins in Flat (AW) races, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-71.

Here are the most recent winning draws, along with the further placings in brackets:

  • 2024: Winner in 20 (19,24,13) [25 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 14 (12,8,13) [24 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 12 (9,18,13) [24 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 25 (1,16,15) [24 Runners]
  • 2020: Winner in 13 (9,11,3) [24 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Ayr Gold Cup is Goodwood; there have been a total of 5 winners of this race who ran at Goodwood last time out. The next best courses, which have produced the second most winners, are Ripon and Haydock; there have been a total of 3 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes, with the Male runners having produced a total of 21 winners from a total of 476 runners, whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 21 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Ayr Gold Cup:

  • Pivotal (3 Wins)
  • Dark Angel (2 Wins)
  • Invincible Spirit (2 Wins)
  • Kheleyf (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Ayr Gold Cup despite multiple attempts:

  • Oasis Dream (0 Wins from 17 runners)
  • Acclamation (0 Wins from 15 runners)
  • Indian Ridge (0 Wins from 9 runners)
  • Clodovil (0 Wins from 8 runners)
  • Monsieur Bond (0 Wins from 7 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Baron Bolt in 2018, winning for Paul Cole at odds of 28/1 under the guidance of Cameron Noble. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals, there have been 4 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2025 Ayr Gold Cup, why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?

Route to the Ayr Gold Cup

Many trainers will target races to use as prep races before coming to the Ayr Gold Cup. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2024 - Lethal Levi
Newbury - 1st of 11 (15/2)
TPT Fire Handicap
2023 - Significantly
Doncaster - 2nd of 22 (12/1)
Portland Heritage Handicap
2022 - Summerghand
Newmarket (July) - 5th of 9 (9/2)
Jenningsbet Hopeful Stakes
2021 - Bielsa
Goodwood - 6th of 24 (9/1)
Stewards Cup
2020 - Nahaarr
Goodwood - 9th of 27 (3/1)
Stewards Cup
2019 - Angel Alexander
Chester - 3rd of 11 (7/2)
ESL Group Handicap
2018 - Son Of Rest
Curragh - 2nd of 9 (23/1)
Flying Five Stakes
2018 - Baron Bolt
Goodwood - 1st of 12 (8/1)
Chelsea Barracks Handicap
2017 - Donjuan Triumphant
Haydock - 1st of 6 (4/1)
32Red.com EBF Stallions Conditions Stakes
2016 - Brando
York - 9th of 19 (20/1)
Nunthorpe Stakes

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Ayr Gold Cup Preview are at hand, Andy and James. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for Flat Racing.

James Banting

James Banting

Expert Guide

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Association provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Expert Guide

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for flat racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful flat racing blogs for OLBG.

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