Jimmy Lands Gold Cup In Style

Jimmy Styles - Ayr Gold Cup winner.

Frankie Dettori thrilled a big crowd on a rare visit to Ayr when gaining his first success in the £150,000 William Hill (Ayr) Gold Cup on Jimmy Styles.

When trainer Clive Cox's turn came to pick his stall at Thursday's draw ceremony there was a breakdown in his phone communication with the course, and he had to forego his preferred number 19 and be content with 15.

But all was well in the end and given a superbly-judged ride by Dettori, the 14-1 shot came with a strong run to lead inside the final furlong to get the better of Barney McGrew by a head, with top-weight Knot In Wood third and 7-1 favourite Evens And Odds fourth.

There was no containing Dettori's joy at the success and having performed his trademark flying dismount, he enthused: "Clive was very confident, the ground had dried up and the rest is history.

"He has run tremendous races all season and I am ecstatic, it is like winning a Group One race.

"It is a major race in the calendar and now my name is in print. There is great turnout today and we got a great reception from the crowd.

"I think my first ride here was 22 years ago when I was 17 and it is fantastic to have come back and won the big race."

Cox said: "It is very special, he has always promised to be a good horse and it has all come right today - we could not believe a week ago that the ground would dry up for him, but the good Lord looked after us.

"It has been a tremendous season, all the staff have worked very hard, it is fantastic for them, this is the icing on the cake.

"Frankie gave him a great ride, we all know he is a world-class jockey.

"I don't know what we will do with Jimmy Styles now, there has been talk about going to Dubai in the winter but we will just take stock of today and see how we go."

Barney McGrew ran a cracker under Tom Eaves and his trainer Michael Dods said: "No excuses really, but Tom said the horse clipped heels early on and nearly fell.

"Tom timed his run to perfection and they just got caught - he has run a blinder."

Knot In Wood came desperately close to adding the Gold Cup to the Bronze and Silver Cups trainer Richard Fahey and jockey Barry McHugh already had in safe-keeping at the Western meeting.

Fahey is enjoying real purple patch and he reflected: "I thought he had come to win his race, but the weight just beat him - he is a legend.

"The plan now is to go for the Diadem Stakes at Ascot next Saturday. He won't have to give lumps of weight away there."