Draw for Ayr Gold Cup to remain behind closed doors until 2022

There will be no public draw for the £150,000 Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup this year but a revamped ceremony is promised for 2022.

Connections of the runners in Scotland's richest Flat race have had the chance to choose their own stalls since 2006, when former Olympic 100m champion Allan Wells did the honours.

Pandemic restrictions last year meant starting positions for the 6f handicap were allocated by the Weatherbys computer, as in any standard Flat race, and that will be the case again for next month's race on September 18.

Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup card and betting

"It's a legacy, Covid thing," said Ayr's managing director David Brown. "We didn't do a public draw last year and having had the break we'd probably have liked to have changed it.

"It might be time to try a different format and this wasn't the year to be trying something new with the current challenges. We'll do it again in 2022 – we want to keep the draw as it's a bit of theatre and a bit of fun."

David Brown: 'It's a bit of theatre and a bit of fun'Credit: David Carr

Reacting to the news, Michael Dods, who is aiming Stewards' Cup winner Commanche Falls at the race, said: "It is what it is and when you choose your own you can choose wrong anyway – there's no guarantee."

Brown reported ticket sales to be "going pretty well" for the three-day meeting which runs from September 16 to 18 and is looking forward to welcoming back the usual Gold Cup day crowd of around 12,000 – at a fixture from which all racegoers were excluded last year.

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"Racing behind closed doors has been a challenge and courses in England have been able to open up more fully than those in Scotland," he said. "They have had full crowds for a sustained period and we're looking forward to the first chance to have more than 5,000 people.

"I'm just looking forward to seeing loads of customers about the place, enjoying themselves and having fun."

Addeybb won a high-quality Doonside Cup in 2020Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Brown also hopes for a decent turnout in the Saturday's Listed Virgin Bet Doonside Cup, in which subsequent Champion Stakes winner Addeybb beat fellow Group 1 winner Lord Glitters in 2020.

"Last year's race behind closed doors was probably a Group 1 in all but name so if we got anything like that again we'd be delighted," he said.

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