Dods hits the crossbar at Ayr with two narrow defeats

Souter was backed into 7-1 from 18-1 to gain a first success at the third attempt for Keith Dalgleish in the opening mile novice stakes at Ayr and justified the support by gamely denying Michael Dods' Mister Belvedere, who hit an in-play low of 1.04, by a nose.

It was not Dods' day early on, as in the second race, Finn Class appeared to have the race at his mercy and hit a low of 1.15 but Jason Hart sneaked a run up the inside to land the mile handicap aboard Silvery Moon. Tim Easterby's nine-year-old was also the subject of sustained support, backed into 5-1 joint-favourite from a first show of 14-1 the night before, with the trainer enjoying a one-two courtesy of Father Bertie battling on gamely for second.

Maleficent Queen was a popular selection in the feature Listed William Hill Doonside Cup over 1m2f, supported into 9-2 from an overnight 7-1, though it was Godolphin's Secret Number, backed into 6-1 from 14-1, who ran out a convincing winner under Danny Tudhope for trainer Saeed Bin Suroor.