Spycatcher will carry top weight in the 2026 Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup at Ayr Racecourse after being allotted 9st 13lb for the six-furlong feature on Saturday, September 19.
The Karl Burke-trained runner heads the weights for the £180,000 contest, which will be the Saturday highlight of Ayr Racecourse’s three-day meeting. The festival is scheduled to run from September 17 to 19 and will be shown live on ITV Racing and Racing TV.
Who is in contention for the Ayr Gold Cup?
Volterra, trained by five-time winning trainer Kevin Ryan, is next on 9st 11lb. Spy Chief, trained by John and Thady Gosden, and Richard Hannon’s Aramron have both been allotted 9st 10lb.
Last year’s Gold Cup winner Run Boy Run has been given 9st 2lb, while Silver Cup winner Candy, also trained by Richard Spencer, is on 8st 13lb.
The highest-rated Scottish-trained entries are Gangsta Man, trained by Jim Goldie, on 8st 5lb; Katie Scott’s Figjam on 8st 4lb; and Jonny Concrete, trained by Iain Jardine, on 8st 3lb.
Declarations and the Ayr Racecourse draw
The top 25-rated horses declared on Thursday, September 17, will compete for the Gold Cup. The next 25 will contest the Silver Cup, with a further 25 horses permitted to race in the Bronze Cup.
A televised draw for the starting stalls in the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup will also take place on Thursday, September 17. That means the final shape of the field and the stall positions will be key details for people following the meeting in Craigie and across Ayr.
A race with more than a century of history
The Ayr Gold Cup has been run over six furlongs at its current Ayr Racecourse site since 1908. Its history includes legendary rider Steve Donoghue’s wins in 1912 and 1926, while trainer Jack Jarvis completed a unique hat-trick with victories in 1937, 1938 and the first post-war renewal in 1946.
Eph Smith rode Jarvis’s winners in 1938 and 1946 before winning again on Klondyke Bill in 1961. Scottish-trained runners then recorded three victories in the ten years between George Boyd’s 1966 success and Nigel Angus’s two wins in 1975. Roman Warrior remains the most recent Scottish-trained winner, 51 years later.
David “Dandy” Nicholls holds the modern training record with six winners between 2000 and 2010. Kevin Ryan has five Gold Cup victories between 2007 and 2021 and could equal or surpass that mark.
Karl Burke trained his third winner in 2024 with Lethal Levi. No horse has won the race twice since Funfair Wane’s victories in 2002 and 2004. The racecourse has said more information is available through its Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup Festival weights page.
