Ayr Picks

Ayr is the premier Scottish racetrack and is best known for staging the Scottish Grand National a week or so after the Aintree Grand National. 

It is a dual-purpose track on the west coast of Scotland with the most prestigious flat race being the Ayr Gold Cup. This race normally held in September is for sprinters over 6 furlongs and is worth over two hundred thousand pounds.

Type of Racing: Flat and National Hunt.

Highlights: Both the Ayr Gold Cup & Ayr Silver Cup (September) on the flat whilst over the jumps they have the Scottish Grand National & the Scottish Champion Hurdle (April).

The Firth of Clyde Stakes, Harry Rosebery Stakes, and Doonside Cup are also notable races staged during the Gold Cup meeting in September.

* All statistics below are based on the previous five years at Ayr

Ayr Outright Favorite Statistics

• Flat Handicaps: 134-447 (30%) -16.59
• Flat Non-Handicaps: 43-89 (48%) -2.63
• Handicap Chases: 38-116 (33%) -10.97
• Handicap Hurdles: 47-123 (38%) +30.28
• Non-Handicap Chases: 7-11 (64%) +3.59
• Non-Handicap Hurdles: 41-80 (51%) +0.99

Both tracks are left-handed, 1m4f circuit and slightly undulating. Races up to six furlongs on the flat are run on the straight track.

Ayr Racetrack Address: Whitletts Rd, Ayr KA8 0JE

Ayr Racetrack Telephone Number: 01292 264179

Check the OLBG handicappers who are in good tipping form. You can check the top horse racing tipsters for the last 12 months.

Note Irish trainers with well-handicapped “sleepers” who have traveled from Ireland with a “few”, especially when they say, “we were coming over, so brought an xxx horse for the experience”. There is often a late Irish “plot”.

Note travelers to Ayr, especially for non-weekend races with big prize money. Any horse that has traveled over 300 miles should be noted.

Note the “Scottish Mafia” of trainers who like to keep the cash north of the border. Listen to the pundits with connections in Scotland (Alex Steedman, Gordon Brown).

Look for horses that have run well in the most recent Scottish meeting, and who are on a retrieval mission, e.g. their last run was at Hamilton, Kelso, Musselburgh, or Perth.

Check Irish stallion’s offspring whose progeny have a good record at Ayr. On evening meetings at Ayr look for jockeys who rode in England in the afternoon.

Wait for weather reports, Ayr does have an odd climate. Check trainers who have had previous race success in a specific race.

Check previous handicap weight bands of winners of specific races, if the bulk of winners of a specific race come from the most common weight band, look deeper into those runners.

If you want the most profitable stall at Ayr then you need to look at races over 5f and focus on stall 2 as this has produced an LSP of +73.55 over the last five years. The stall with the worst loss at Ayr in the win market when breaking it down to race trips is stall 6 over a trip of 1m, backing all runners in this stall over that trip over the past five years would have returned a loss of -78.54.

Here we have the draw bias for Ayr taken into consideration races with ten or more runners, we will break down the figures by race distance, draws can be much more important over the shorter trips in which runners do not have time to find their position during the race meaning the draw is probably more important than the races over longer distances.

• Sprints (5f to 7½f)
• Mile (1m to 1m1½f)
• Middle Distance (1m2f to 1m5½f)

The following table shows a breakdown over a group of trips and shows how each position of the draw does, for example in a twelve-runner race would be Low (Stalls 1-4), Mid (Stalls 5-8) and High (Stalls 9-12), the positions will always be lowest stall number to highest.

Who are the best flat jockeys and trainers to bet on at Ayr?

Following T D Easterby would have returned a profit here at Ayr with an LSP of +1.76 and their twenty-nine winners have them at the head of the profitable trainers' list. J S Goldie does lead the trainers' list overall with sixty-seven winners but shows an overall loss. Miss J A Camacho is the trainer to follow at Ayr if you are backing eachway as they show the best LSP of all the trainers in the eachway markets, that is +28.78 which is courtesy of their ten placings (six winners). With an LSP of -185.08 at Ayr, Keith Dalgleish heads the list for worst trainers at this course, which is a result of thirty-one winners from three hundred seventy-three runners which is a strike rate of 8%.

Paul Mulrennan is the leading jockey here at Ayr with fifty-five winners but you would have recorded a loss if you backed all of their rides whilst following B A Curtis would have returned the most winners (twenty-seven) from a profitable jockey. If you are more of an eachway player then you may want to know which jockey is best to follow at Ayr and that would be Jack Garritty who shows the best eachway LSP which is +22.17 thanks to their fifteen placings (three winners). A total of fifteen winners from two hundred three rides at Ayr has Callum Rodriguez at the wrong end of the jockeys' list with their 7% strike rate and worst LSP of -125.66.

Ayr Picks & Hints

Here are some factors at Ayr for certain trainers or jockeys which have been profitable:

• 5-7 (71%) +29.33 - Backing Donagh O'Connor rides when in a Handicap race
• 8-18 (44%) +25.08 - Backing Billy Garritty rides when over a trip of 1m2f
• 8-18 (44%) +21.48 - Backing Kevin Stott rides when in a Novices race
• 7-15 (47%) +18.74 - Backing Archie Watson runners when horses are aged 3yo
• 5-12 (42%) +12.75 - Backing Miss Katie Scott runners when over a trip of 1m

Ayr Top Jockey and Trainer Combinations

Here are the best trainer and jockey combinations here at Ayr based on the number of winners:

• 34 Wins: J S Goldie & Paul Mulrennan
• 22 Wins: I Jardine & Andrew Mullen
• 19 Wins: D O'Meara & Daniel Tudhope
• 17 Wins: T D Easterby & David Allan
• 15 Wins: K A Ryan & Kevin Stott

Ayr Top Trainers By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit

Ayr Top Jockeys By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit

Who are the best national hunt jockeys and trainers to bet on at Ayr?

Not only is N W Alexander the most successful trainer at Ayr in terms of the number of winners but they have also returned a profit if back all of their runners, N W Alexander has notched up a total of thirty-six winners for an LSP of +31.16. If you are looking for a trainer to follow in the eachway market then it is Micky Hammond who leads the way at Ayr, they have had a total of six placings which includes four winners over the previous five for an eachway LSP of +21.01. R Michael Smith does not have a great record at Ayr, their LSP of -110.27 has them stone dead bottom of the trainers' list, which has come from three winners from one hundred twenty-three runners which is a 2% strike rate.

Following Sean Quinlan would have returned a profit here at Ayr with an LSP of +54.91 and their twenty-five winners have them at the head of the profitable jockeys' list. Brian Hughes does lead the jockeys' list overall with thirty-nine winners but shows an overall loss. When looking at jockeys and looking for some eachway value at Ayr, the jockey who shows the best eachway profit is Sean Quinlan, whose LSP is +19.46 which has been accumulated by a total of sixty-four placings which includes twenty-five winners. The jockey with the worst record at Ayr based on LSP is Brian Hughes who has only a 16% strike rate with thirty-nine winners from two hundred forty-nine rides which have returned an LSP of -91.62.

Ayr Top Jockey and Trainer Combinations

Here are the best trainer and jockey combinations here at Ayr based on the number of winners:

• 17 Wins: N G Richards & Brian Hughes
• 14 Wins: Miss Lucinda V Russell & Derek R Fox
• 13 Wins: A M Thomson & Ryan Mania
• 11 Wins: N W Alexander & Bruce Lynn
• 10 Wins: Daniel Skelton & Harry Skelton

Ayr Top Trainers By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit

Ayr Top Jockeys By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit