His first win since July 30th, 2005.
Ayr Result
28 May 2009
« 2:50 » Turnberry Holiday Park Claiming Stakes
(Class 5) (3yo+) 6f Good
« 1 4 Gift Horse 7/4F 9 9-4 p D Nicholls 78 —
ch g Cadeaux Genereux - Careful Dancer (Gorytus) Adrian T Nicholls
Held up, headway to lead over 1f out, driven out (op 5-4)
« 2 13 ¾ Soto 16/1 6 9-2 b M W Easterby 60 —
b g Averti (IRE) - Belle Of The Blues (IRE) (Blues Traveller) Paul Mulrennan
Prominent, headway to lead briefly over 1f out, edged left, kept on under pressure final furlong (tchd 20-1)
« 3 1 nk Swinbrook (USA) 6/1 8 9-1 v R A Fahey 70 —
ch g Stravinsky (USA) - Dance Diane (USA) (Affirmed) Jamie Moriarty
Held up, pushed along when not clear run over 2f out, headway over 1f out, ran on (op 13-2 tchd 11-2)
« 4 7 6 Mormeatmic 66/1 6 8-13 M W Easterby 44 —
b g Orpen (USA) - Mimining (Tower Walk) Patrick Donaghy5
Prominent, effort and every chance over 1f out, outpaced final furlong
« 5 11 1¼ Ice Planet 8/1 8 8-9 Mrs R A Carr 65 —
b g Polar Falcon (USA) - Preference (Efisio) Dean Heslop5
Held up, effort on outside over 2f out, no impression over 1f out (tchd 15-2)
« 6 2 1½ Seafield Towers 100/1 9 8-8 p D A Nolan 41 —
ch g Compton Place - Midnight Spell (Night Shift) Ross Smith7
Prominent until ridden and weakened over 1f out
« 7 5 shd The Bear 33/1 6 9-6 D A Nolan 62 —
ch g Rambling Bear - Precious Girl (Precious Metal) Tony Hamilton
Led to over 1f out, soon weakened (op 40-1)
« 8 8 1½ Millie's Rock (IRE) 12/1 4 9-6 K A Ryan 72 —
b f Rock Of Gibraltar (IRE) - Miletrian (IRE) (Marju) Joe Fanning
Dwelt, soon close up, every chance over 1f out, soon weakened (op 11-1 tchd 14-1)
« 9 10 2¼ Strabinios King 20/1 5 9-5 A Berry 70 —
b g King's Best (USA) - Strawberry Morn (CAN) (Travelling Victor) Slade O'Hara5
Held up, ridden after 2f, never on terms (op 18-1)
« 10 12 nk Talon (IRE) 33/1 4 9-1 G A Swinbank 55 —
ch g Indian Ridge - Brief Lullaby (IRE) (Brief Truce) P J McDonald
Prominent until ridden and weakened from 2f out
« 11 6 3½ Epic Odyssey 5/2 4 9-3 p Lee Smyth 82 —
ch g Dubai Destination (USA) - Royal Gift (Cadeaux Genereux) Phillip Makin
Midfield, driven over 3f out, weakened final 2f (op 4-1 tchd 9-4)
« 12 9 12 Yahwudhee (FR) 50/1 4 9-1 N Wilson 70 —
b g Zamindar (USA) - Lady Marshall (FR) (Octagonal) Dale Gibson
Midfield, driven over 3f out, soon weakened
12 ran TIME 1m 12.31s (slow by 2.21s) Total SP 118%
NON RUNNER: Rainbow Bay
1st OWNER: Alfi and Partners BRED: Theakston Stud TRAINER: D Nicholls
2nd OWNER: W H & Mrs J A Tinning
3rd OWNER: Mark A Leatham
TOTE toteswinger: 1&2 £5.90, 1&3 £3.70, 2&3 £9.10 WIN £2.60 PL £1.50, £2.90, £1.70; Ex £36.00; CSF £30.91
Gift Horse was claimed by David Evans ******** for £8,000.
ANALYSIS MY RACE NOTES Not many could be given a chance in this and GIFT HORSE proved good enough to win his first race in nearly four years.
Second in a handicap at Doncaster earlier in the month, he was just about best on adjusted RPR´s and came through with a strong run to lead over a furlong out. He stuck on well once in front and will remain a force at this sort of level. He was claimed by David Evans for &phound;8,000.
Soto, runner-up in a claimer at Redcar earlier in the month (had the blinkers reapplied), showedgood speed throughout and stuck on well when passed by the winner, but was unable to get back at him.
Swinbrook, narrow winner of a Lingfield seller last week, was last at halfway and briefly became short of room when trying to come with a run. Hestayed on well inside the final furlong and may have been unfortunate not to nick second.
Mormeatmic, down in grade for this seasonal reappearance, had a bit to find on these terms and ran about as well as could have been expected.
Ice Planet was not disgraced on this return to turf.
Epic Odyssey, in good form on the AW earlier in the year, came in for strong support beforehand, but he was beaten with over two to run.
******** - Take good care of him, Sir... he's a legend.