Gordon Brown – Race Reporter Gordon has a wealth of experience of racing through his background in the written and broadcast media. His current principle role is reporting and supporting the scene in Scotland on Racing TV and relaying the latest news with Scottish angles.
HAMILTON PARK specialist Iris Dancer is chasing a breakthrough success at Ayr in the Ayr Racecourse Racing Club Handicap.
Trained a few miles east of Carlisle by Tristan Davidson, the eight-year-old mare has registered nine wins at the South Lanarkshire venue, a modern-day record she holds jointly with Jim Goldie’s Jordan Electrics.
But in nine previous visits to Ayr she has never finished closer than third on two occasions.
“Ideally she needs to come up a hill and all bar one of her eleven career wins have come on an undulating track,” said Davidson, who also saddles Harb (2.30), Coconut Bay (3.00) and Runninsonofagun (3.30) on a busy day for his Cumbrian yard . “Irish Dancer has ran ok at Ayr in the past – in one of races she was third in we also trained the winner Pearl Of Qatar!
“There is nothing for her at the first two Hamilton’s but there is a race at the Sunday Series meeting later in the month, providing she gets in as she’s only rated 62. It would be great to get that record outright as it’s the local track for a lot of her owners.
“She may be eight but she’s in great form and her first run of the season was a good second at Pontefract, another course with a hill.”
Iain Jardine’s The Gay Blade could be one of the main threats to Iris Dancer as he has won three times at Newcastle already this year and was only pipped by a neck into second place at Musselburgh six days ago.
With its first scheduled meeting of 2026 on the Flat abandoned, Ayr’s new season on the level opens with the Weddings At Western House Hotel Maiden Stakes.
The colours of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid have been in great form recently and Railwayman, who cost 420,000gns as a yearling, could be hard to beat. On his Leicester debut, he was third to the same owner’s Royal Ascot-bound Westport, who strolled home again at Hamilton Park on Sunday.