Gweedore

At Ayr specifically, Gweedore has won three of his nine races there—a win rate of one in three that marks him out as a genuine course specialist. His trainer Katie Scott, based at Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, has spoken openly about targeting him at the Ayr Gold Cup, a big autumn handicap race where he was a close third two years ago. Scott has also explained that he spent last season sidelined with a sore fetlock, then suffered a minor setback with a thrown splint, but is now returning to regular racing. Both setbacks speak to the vulnerabilities of older horses, but they do not seem to have broken his appetite for racing.

His recent form is frustratingly patchy. He has not won in his last six races, with finishes of eighth, eleventh, fifteenth, sixteenth, fourth and fourteenth. But there is something in his racing pattern worth noting: Jason Hart, his most frequent jockey, has ridden him in thirteen races and won three of them, a win rate of 23 percent—significantly better than his career average. Hart clearly understands how to get the best out of him. With Scott planning to step up his racing through late summer and autumn, and with the Ayr Gold Cup looming as a obvious target, Gweedore may well have his best chance of adding to his tally in the months ahead.