Definightly travelled up to Ayr on Thursday night and is very fresh and has eaten all his feed. It does appear that a high draw is preferable and I am a little concerned that the ground is now good to firm as ideally he would prefer good to soft. He has had a good season so far and today would be a bonus, so we have little to lose.

Genki is also in great shape and seems to enjoy travelling. It is difficult to know where the best place is going to be but as we have one of the favourites Poet's Place drawn next to us, it probably makes sense to go whereever he goes. The fast ground is less of a problem than it used to be for him.

Zero Money is in the same ownership as Genki and as Gill Khosla lives 40 miles from the racecourse it would be great if he could reach the frame again. He is suited by fast ground and probably 7 furlongs is better than 8.

Discovery Bay is a big backward two year old out of mare that stayed a mile and a half and he will be suited by 10-12 furlongs next year. He has shown some promise at home and I hope that he can run well but I am not expecting him to be in the shake up.

Walcot Square was switched from running at Wolverhampton last night as his preference would be fast ground which it now looks like they will have this afternoon at Newbury. I have never thought that we have seen the best of him and I hope that blinkers will bring about some improvement.

Spoken ran a good and game race at Beverley and todays race looks equally competitive as there are now so few 3 year old only handicaps for horses rated over 90. He loves the fast ground and he seems to run his best races when allowed to make the running and I am hoping that he might get a chance to lead today.

Border Subject with Tom Grantham

Border Subject  who is now used as a hack having won 6 races during his racing career with his regular rider Tom Grantham (Assistant Trainer and ex National Hunt Jockey)

Cityscape

Walcot Square out on the gallops. He is running at Newbury tomorrow afternoon in the 5.25 pm race with Neil Callan aboard.

SPOKEN

Spoken out on the Beckhampton gallops, he is due to run at Newmarket tomorrow afternoon in the 3.55 pm race with Jim Crowley down to ride.

We had a great deal of excitement on Thursday morning watching the Weatherbys screen to see whether Definightly would be balloted out of the Ayr Gold Cup.  It always looked as if he would not quite make the cut although there were other horses that got into the race who were on the same weight, so he is now top weight in the Silver Cup. He is in terrific form although a long journey overnight to Ayr and having his third race in 3 weeks is not an ideal preparation for the most valuable race that he has ever run in.  According to Timeform whose opinion I respect, he has 12lbs in hand of most of the runners apart from Advanced (formerly trained at Beckhampton) who is 5lbs behind him.  He is being ridden by a very exciting young apprentice Adam Beschizza  who claims 5 lbs and who has ridden nearly 40 winners this year. There is some rain forecast tomorrow which would also help him, so fingers crossed that he will complete a great run for his owner/breeder Simon and Rosalind Emmet.

Genki returns to Ayr for his second attempt to win the Gold Cup . There was a certain amount of research done to try and decide what is likely to be a good draw in Saturdays race.  The decision was virtually  made for us as he was drawn "out of the hat" towards the end of the proceedings and there were very few choices as to which stall would be allocated to him. He has ended up in stall 11 next to the favourite Poet's Place. I was pleased to see that Prime Exhibit who is a front runner drawn 3 and also Knot In Wood can make the running and was drawn 13.  Steve Drowne's instructions will be to follow the favourite and sail past him as they run to the line and not to give him too hard a race !  I am really pleased with his condition and mental state, he seems very focused and his 'prep race ' in a Group One, finishing 3rd was perfect. It will be interesting to see how the draw works out today in the Bronze Cup as the latest going stick readings are confusing with 10.1 on the stand rails and 9.3 on the far side which would suggest that the ground is good to firm or faster but apparently still described as good to soft.

Silbury is a sweet filly but still a little highly strung and I am pleased to see that there is a small field at Newbury today which should suit her. She likes fast ground and I hope dropping back in trip to 6 furlongs will also be to her advantage. At this stage of her development she is not yet at her full strength so will improve with time.

Truly Asia ran well last time at Folkestone but he was not really suited by the undulating track and sharp bend, he deserves to run a better race today.

Marlinka travelled overnight and arrived in good shape this morning at Ayr. I am hoping that the ground will continue to dry out as she is suited by a fast surface but todays race look competitive with plenty of front runners and in an ideal world she likes to dominate and lead from the front. Looking at the programme book there are virtually no alternative races for her over 5 furlongs before the end of the season.

Click on this link to read interview with Matt Chapman

http://blogs.bettor.com/Roger-Charlton-is-Definightly-hopeful-for-Ayr-Gold-Cup-a27306
 

Sugar Beet  made all to win in good style, she seemed to be well suited to the poly track and for a daughter of Beat Hollow ( Sadler's Wells) she showed plenty of zip to win over 6 furlongs.  She may run again with a 6 lb penalty if the right opportunity comes along as she ran at Bath last week (placed 3rd) rated 62 and yesterday she won on a rating of 65.  The good news is that for entries made before Sunday her rating is back to 62, which if I haven't all ready lost you means that she could run at Folkestone on Tuesday or Wolverhampton on Thursday off 68 (ie) only plus 3 lb and not 6 lb.  Sorry all very confusing but fun trying to win more races before the Horses in Training Sales at Newmarket 26th October.

Sugar Beet unfortunately reared in the stalls at Bath although she went in last, she then broke fast and perhaps was doing too much in front. As there are so few opportunities for her, rating of  63 I was keen to run again so that she has a chance before she goes to the Sales in the Autumn.