Sprint king Nicholls grabs silver

David Nicholls limbered up for his assault on the totesport Ayr Gold Cup by winning the consolation race for the fourth time in the last eight years when Machinist burst clear to score in style at the Scottish track.

The Thirsk trainer, renowned as the ‘sprint king’, has eight in tomorrow’s feature, a race he has landed four times in the last five years, and was responsible for four of the 28 runners in the totesport Ayr Silver Cup, including the heavily-backed 4-1 favourite Ice Planet.