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Ayr is one of six meetings across the UK and Ireland on Friday and it boasts two Listed races as part of an eight-race card.
In the 5f Listed Harry Rosebery Stakes (2:15), Andrew Balding's Purosangue is the current favourite to return to winning ways. The Aclaim colt was a four length winner at Haydock Park on debut over five furlongs and has subsequently produced some excellent performances in defeat. He finished within a neck of Big Evs in the Group 3 Molecombe Stakes, with the victor subsequently scoring in the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster. His second behind Inquisitively in the Listed Julia Graves Roses Stakes may have also received a boost, had the winner not been withdrawn from the same Doncaster contest. With plenty of related Group form, Purosangue is a worthy favourite for the race.
Karl Burke's exceptional season of juvenile results could be set to continue with Beautiful Diamond, who will take on the colts with the benefit of a five pound weight allowance. Third in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, the filly returned after a two month absence with a credible one-and-a-half lengths fifth behind Relief Rally in the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York. She shaped better than the bare result, taking a keen hold in the early stages before fading at the finish, having shown signs of inexperience. The daughter of Twilight Son is entitled to improve again and the yard are in flying form, with a strike rate of 29% from the last fourteen days.
Brian Meehan's Toca Madera deserves a mention, also boasting placed form in Group company. The gelding returns to five furlongs following a third in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood behind subsequent Group 1 scorer Vandeek. It is not guaranteed that the son of Bated Breath will find improvement for the sharper test but he likes to dominate from the front and could produce a good result if in-form jockey Saffie Osborne is allowed to dictate terms.
WIN: BEAUTIFUL DIAMOND
Distance form could be key in the 5½f Listed Arran Scottish Sprint EBF Fillies' Stakes (2:50) and the out of form Gale Force Maya won this contest twelve months ago. The victory completed a Listed double for the then-six-year-old, but the Michael Dods-trained mare has not been in the same form since. A third behind Swingalong in the Group 3 Summer Stakes indicated that Gale Force May still retained some semblance of her ability, and the team have made the decision to fit first-time blinkers. A combination of new headgear and a return to a suited test may be the key to the mare's resurgence.
Kevin Ryan's Queen Me benefits from a small three-year-old allowance and returns to considerably easier company following a well-beaten eleventh in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes. The daughter of Dubawi was twice-placed at Group company in her three starts as a juvenile and has been campaigned solely at Group 1 level during her three-year-old season. To be fair to the filly, she has not been disgraced in any of the three starts, finishing midfield in the 1000 Guineas before a sixth behind Shaquille in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup. There would be a small doubt about whether Queen Me retains enough ability to win, but she is an interesting prospect for the contest.
Trained by William Haggas, Pink Crystal has only had two starts this season and produced solid performances on each occasion. She made her seasonal return in a six furlong handicap at York before finishing one-and-three-quarter lengths fourth in the Group 3 Summer Stakes over the same course and distance. The four-year-old finished second behind Gale Force Maya last year and her best form puts her firmly in the mix.
WIN: GALE FORCE MAYA
RACING & SPORTS SELECTIONS
RACE 1: MISS ROBERTS R
RACE 2: BILL'S BAAR
RACE 3: BEAUTIFUL DIAMOND
RACE 4: GALE FORCE MAYA
RACE 5: COSMOS RAJ
RACE 6: AYR POET
RACE 7: ANNANDALE
