Och aye, Hawkeyethenoo may be poised to rewrite Scottish racing history

It has been 36 years since a Scottish-trained horse won this nation’s biggest Flat race, but Saturday’s William Hill Ayr Gold Cup could finally see that long wait brought to an end.

Hawkeyethenoo, currently 14/1 in the betting, is fancied to become the first Scottish-trained winner of the race since Roman Warrior in 1975.

Renfrewshire trainer Jim Goldie is the man who has been plotting the win for Scotland all season, and indeed he has been aiming at the Gold Cup with this horse for much of three seasons.

Once rated a mere 51 by the official handicapper, Hawkeyethenoo has been brought along steadily and has performed the very rare feat of doubling his rating.

The winner of last season’s Sky Bert Dash at York and this year’s Victoria Cup at Ascot now races off 104, which means that if all the intended runners take their places, he will be carrying 9st 4lbs.

The reason he gets in with such a competitive weight is that this year’s Sky Bet Dash and Goodwood Stewards Cup hero Hoof It will be top weight.

He has been the sprinting star of the season, but it is asking a lot of Hoof It to hump 10st 5lbs down the six furlongs of the Craigie course.

Sponsors William Hill currently have Hoof It, trained by Mick Easterby, and Pepper Lane from the David O’Meara yard as 10/1 joint favourites, but expect those odds to change once the declarations are made early in the week.

Punters have been robbed of a chance to see Frankie Dettori notch up a memorable hat trick as he is suspended next Saturday, but victory celebrations for Hawkeyethenoo will outshout even the acclaim that greeted Frankie when he won the Cup aboard Jimmy Styles in 2009 and on Redford last year.

Current champion jockey Paul Hanagan, and former champions Jamie Spencer, Kieren Fallon and Seb Saunders are all set to feature during Scotland’s biggest flat racing festival which starts on Thursday with 22 races set to be run over the three days.

Thursday features the Williamhill.com Handicap for the Kilkerran Cup run over 1m 2f, while on Friday the William Hill Ayr Bronze Cup and the Harry Rosebery Stakes for the South Ayrshire Cup are the main events.

Main supporting races on Saturday include the Laundry Cottage Stud Firth Of Clyde Stakes, the Williamhill.com Doonside Cup, the Williamhill.com Ayrshire Handicap and the William Hill Ayr Silver Cup.