Euchen Glen denied as Thundering storms to Kilkerran Cup victory

Jim Goldie's stable stalwart Euchen Glen was denied a first win in more than two years when beaten a head by the Graham Lee-ridden Thundering in the 1m2f Kilkerran Cup, the feature race on day one of the Gold Cup festival.

Euchen Glen, who finished fourth in last month's Ebor and whose most recent victory came in the Listed Gala Stakes at Sandown in July 2021, just failed to reel in the Kevin Ryan-trained winner to leave jockey Paul Mulrennan rueing the loss. 

"Paul's gutted he didn't win, he thinks he should have, but the horse ran a brilliant race again," said Goldie. 

"Euchen Glen is a funny one. If you try and steal him away he lugs left, and there was a gap up the inside. I think if Paul had been patient and followed Graham through he could have nailed him, but as soon as he committed he was running away from them the whole time."

While Goldie claimed a winner later on the card when Cosa Sara took the first division of the 7f handicap, the day largely belonged to North Yorkshire-based trainers, who won five of the eight races. 

"Ayr is always a fantastic place to come and this is a really enjoyable meeting, especially for the northern trainers," said Thundering's assistant trainer Adam Ryan. 

"To be fair to Graham, he's given Thundering a peach of a ride. He loves to come late and he travelled so well. We'll see how he comes out of the race, but there are a lot of meetings left this season, so hopefully there are bigger and better things on the horizon."

Burke bonanza

Karl Burke can do no wrong at present and his in-form yard made it 15 winners in the last fortnight when Respectful landed a shock victory when making almost all in the 7f novice. 

The 20-1 shot was well beaten on his previous start but showed marked improvement to hold off the challenge of the well-bred Individualism to win cosily under Sam James. 

Respectful (white cap) defeats Subjectivist's half-brother Individualism (blue cap) to strike at 20-1Credit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

"He's surprised me a little," said James. "He jumped very smartly and I was able to tack across and get an easy lead 

"He's improved a hell of a lot from his first couple of runs and did well to stick it out when Charlie Johnston's horse [Individualism] came up. I thought he was going to go by me, but my one was tough."

While Respectful's victory may have been unexpected, James was less surprised when Aconcagua Mountain blazed home in the 5f handicap.

"It's great to get a double this early in the meeting," the jockey said. "I didn't go into the race with a plan, they just told me to ride it as I found it, and it worked out perfectly. I wasn't really out of a canter the whole way." 

Spirit strikes

The mile novice has thrown up some top-class horses in recent years, and Mick Easterby hopes he has found another in the shape of Spirit Of Acklam, who scored under Joanna Mason. 

Spirit Of Acklam (near) holds off favourite Sisyphean to win under Joanna MasonCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The contest was won by 2,000 Guineas runner-up Hi Royal last year, but Spirit Of Acklam is unlikely to chart a similar route, with the joint-trainer expecting the son of Cracksman to need further next season. 

"He's very nice and I think he needs a mile and a half," said Easterby, who trains alongside son David. "He's going to be great for next year. I'm still not sure quite what he's going to be though, as he's a great big baby at the moment."

Read more:

'She's done really well physically' - black type beckons as Unequal Love is dominant in feature sprint 

'He's turning into a proper sprinter' - step up in class beckons for runaway winner Hydration 

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