Shooz powers to Ayr glory

Racing at Ayr today went ahead without any problems after the abandonment of last week’s meeting on safety grounds following a seven horse pile-up in the third race.

None were more delighted than Noel Wilson and Duran Fentiman, who both gained their biggest success when Pavershooz won the £40,000 (€46,500) Giles Insurance Stakes.

Half an hour later Wilson celebrated by completing a double when sending out Ingleby Star to win the Homecoming Handicap in the hands of apprentice Gary Bartley.

Pavershooz has been a revelation in recent months and sweeping through to head the far side group at a furlong and a half out, he stayed on strongly to score by one and a half lengths from the Irish raider Just For Mary, with only a length and a half covering the next six home.

Wilson has always rated the 13-2 chance highly and after watching him win his third valuable handicap of the season, he said: “After he won at Musselburgh we said we would go for the Ayr Gold Cup, it is one of the biggest sprint handicaps and it is great for a small stable to even have a runner in it.

“Then he went and won the Gosforth Park Cup at Newcastle and was unlucky at York last time but he was left on his own, he is so quick that I think we might have a crack at the Portland Handicap (at Doncaster) before coming back here.”

Ulsterman Wilson has a team of 24 at his base near York, and he went on: “He is the best horse I have trained and I would also like to try and win a big handicap in Ireland with him and perhaps take him abroad.”

Of Ingleby Star (7-4 favourite), he said: “This horse is in the form of his life, a lot of sprinters are unmanageable and the secret is to manage their heads and that is what we try and do.

“It is great, this is my first double at the same course but it could have been even better as Hotham was beaten only a head in the six-furlong sprint.”

Ironically the opening Bud And Joe Pieroni Memorial Handicap went to Ann Duffield’s Minturno, ridden by Paul Mulrennan, who had been one of the jockeys who escaped injury in that incident seven days ago.

He did have a scare on the way to the start, however, when his reins broke but in the race itself all went well as he brought Minturno with a well-timed run to beat Battimoore by a comfortable three-quarters of a length.

Mulrennan said: “The ground is in beautiful condition out there. It was a bit of a worry when the reins broke after a couple of furlongs on the way down, but fortunately when I shouted ’whoa’ to Minturno he stopped and I led him the rest of the way.

“Ann and George (Duffield) told me to get the horse there as late as possible and he did it well, I always thought he was going to win.”

Alan Swinbank’s Yesnabay (5-2) confirmed the promise he had shown on his racecourse debut at Hamilton and raced to an impressive seven-length success under P J McDonald in the European Breeders Fund Homecoming Maiden.

McDonald enthused: “He is a real nice horse, he has improved a stone since his first run and he will improve again.

“We have a good bunch of two-year-olds and he could be the best we (the Swinbank stable) have had for some time.”

Phillip Makin completed a double when he persuaded Dream Express (3-1) to put his best foot forward in a good finish to the Wisecall Claiming Stakes, and then brought We Have A Dream (8-1) home in front in the Intechnology Services Handicap.

Dream Express’ trainer Michael Dods said: “He has ability but he is a rogue - against good horses he puts his head up in the air but it is easy for him when he is running against moderate opposition, (it makes him) think he is good.

“If someone wants to claim him they can but we might keep him and run him in races like this.”

William Muir, who had been successful earlier in the afternoon at Yarmouth, trains We Have A Dream and he said: “This horse went through a barren spell, but we saw signs of him coming back on his last run but one. Martin (Dwyer) rode him and said he definitely hadn’t gone.”

The John Quinn-trained Arriva La Diva (8-1) landed the concluding Giles Insurance Corporate Handicap in good style under conditional Jamie Kyne.