Group Horse Major Jumbo to Land Saturday’s Ayr Gold Cup

The Ayr Gold Cup is one of the biggest betting races of the year, and the field we have seen assembled for the race this season will ensure that this edition is no different. The maximum field of 25 will go to post for this one, and many horses will go into the race thinking they have a chance of winning. Amongst them is one at a big price that has genuine Group 1 form to his name, and that horse is Major Jumbo.

The Kevin Ryan trained grey is the proverbial group horse in a handicap here, and his recent form shows just how good he is. Ryan has tried him highly in the past, so clearly thinks a lot of him and he could well show his class against these rival on Saturday.

He won a listed race two starts ago, which will no doubt have given his confidence a timely boost. Away from that win, he finished four lengths off the winner in a Group 1 last time out, and has previously finished both second and third in Group 2 company.

While there are other horses towards the top of the weights that have shown previous group form, I don’t think any have the kind of form that this horse has. I also don’t think they have as much as he does, which bodes well for his chances.

Of course the problem with a race like this is that there could be a group horse lurking lower down in the weights and that could certainly be the case with the favourite for the race right now, Buffer Zone. Although rated lower than Major Jumbo, he could well turn out to be an even better horse, and is quite a short priced favourite for this kind of race.

However, I don’t think he offers any kind of value for punters, he shouldn’t be as short as he is. Major Jumbo on the other hand is a very nice price here and appears to have the right kind of form to give him a shout. It is a hugely competitive race as you would expect, but Major Jumbo has more going for him than most.

To see our tips for the meeting at Ayr, be sure to head over to our horse racing tips page.