1:45 Ayr – Beautiful Eyes
She cost just £10,000 as a yearling but can race in a Band D restricted maiden as a result and given her connections, BEAUTIFUL EYES should know her job. She is a daughter of Bobby’s Kitten, half-sister to 5-winners, including 4 who won as juveniles, and she wouldn’t need to be anything out of the ordinary to play a hand here. Of the 3 colts with racecourse experience, the 2 at the head of the market, Legend of Xanadu and Gincident, both missed the break on debut at Pontefract before staying on into the places. If they do the same on a much more speed focused track at Ayr, it could be very difficult to make up the ground and so that creates an angle into this race. The yard has a 14.6% strike rate with their 2-year-olds at this track and any market confidence behind her should only be considered a positive.
4:30 Ayr – Post Impressionist
William Haggas has a 33% strike rate at Ayr (8 wins from 24 runners), so it is surely significant that he sends POST IMPRESSIONIST on the long journey north for his 2nd career start. Danny Tudhope was on board for his debut at Nottingham 3-weeks ago, when despite being slowly away and racing wide, he made good late headway to finish a never nearer 2nd to a well backed Martin Meade winner who had fitness and experience on his side. The Haggas/Tudhope combination operate at a 29.3% strike rate when they team up. His dam was group-placed and comes from the family of Cesarewitch winner Grumeti, so this 1-mile trip looks a good starting point for him before he goes up in distance over time, but the same could be said for most of this field so there shouldn’t be any concerns about being outpaced. He will have learned a great deal on his Nottingham debut and should be much more streetwise on his 2nd start, with natural improvement he should prove very hard to beat.
