Jack Dexter looks to be drawn too high for Ayr Gold Cup victory

The fact that Jack Dexter’s name was one of the first pulled out in the Ayr Gold Cup draw meant that connections got to choose virtually any stall they wanted for the handicap.

Stall 22 was the one opted for and the common consensus ahead of the draw was that a higher number was preferable.

Unlike most big-field handicaps, there is no obvious draw bias from recent renewals of the Ayr Gold Cup, with winners in the last decade spread all over the track.

However, only two of the last 10 winners have broken from a stall higher than 20, with those somewhere in the middle often doing the best.

Theoretically, Jack Dexter now has the option of edging towards the middle or looking for a run up the rail and so Graham Lee will have a choice when deciding the best race path for the top weight.

It was clear from the draw that a low stall was not the dish of the day, but lots of the early speed horses have ended up in this part of the track, as a result of being among the last picked out.

Jack Dexter remains favourite in the Ayr Gold Cup odds after the draw at 8/1 and this is largely to do with him relishing the softer ground.

He is unbeaten in all six career starts on ground classified as being slower than good-to-soft, with the going at Ayr currently being referred to as soft and the prospect of further rain on race day.

Meanwhile, Jack Dexter has been specifically targeted at the Ayr Gold Cup since winning in Group 3 company at Newcastle in June.

But, the hope will be that his price drifts slightly in the build up to the race, as every winner in the last decade has been sent off at a double-figure starting price, with Our Jonathan the shortest in the betting at 11/1 in 2011.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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