Almeric defies lengthy absence to win Doonside Cup in style

Almeric put a 158-day absence behind him as he came from last to first to comfortably land the Ladbrokes “Big Football Bet Builder Boosts” Doonside Cup Stakes at Ayr.

Caviar Heights set the early pace in the Listed event with King’s Gambit keeping tabs on him two lengths in arrears with champion jockey Oisin Murphy happy to drop the Andrew Balding-trained Almeric in at the rear of the field.

Caviar Heights weakened as the race entered the final furlong and a half and Murphy timed his challenge to perfection and once he asked the question, Almeric glided to the front of the field as the 13-8 favourite won for the third time in four starts, two and three-quarter lengths clear of King’s Gambit.

Murphy told ITV: “He’s obviously a bit ring rusty because he’s been off the track for a while but he came into the race nicely but then he probably got to the front a little bit sooner than ideal.

“Obviously with the time off the track he should be sharper on his next start.

“We’ve always loved him he’s the most beautiful model.

“He’s almost got a perfect record having won his last three starts and he ran well on debut. When you make racehorses this is what they are supposed to look like.”

The Richard Spencer-trained Candy made all to win the Ladbrokes Ayr Silver Cup.

The field split coming out of the stalls with the George Wood-ridden Candy hitting the front on the near side, with his chief rivals battling it out on the far side of the course.

Sondad was getting the better of Eye Of Dubai entering the final half furlong, but Wood was always in command and the 8-1 saw off Sondad by one and three-quarter lengths.

Spencer said: “It’s great, George gets on really well with him, the ground is the key too him. He seems to just relish it and has a high cruising speed and just keeps it going.  I’m absolutely delighted. Hopefully we’ll be coming back here next year for the big one.”

Owner Phil Cunningham added: “It’s the sort of horse, especially in a field like that, that he’s not too hard to spot. You know how’s he going to run. He’s going to come off the front and what a tremendous training performance. It was amazing, absolutely amazing.”