Guinea Hunter goes for double

21 September 2001

Tim Easterby will enjoy a Stewards Cup-Ayr Gold Cup double if Guinea Hunter performs to his best tomorrow

Guinea Hunter, from the Yorkshire stable of Tim Easterby, can join the elite band of sprinters who have completed the Stewards Cup-Ayr Gold Cup double in the same season by winning Scotland’s biggest flat race on Saturday.

In the last quarter of a century Green Ruby (1986), Lochsong (1992) and Coastal Bluff (1996) have taken top honours in the Goodwood handicap before going on to further glory in the Ayr sprint.

Now Guinea Hunter, third in the Tote-sponsored race last year, has a great chance of writing his own piece of history. At Goodwood he beat Halmahera and Undeterred and then last week in the Portland Handicap at Doncaster he chased home Smokin Beau and Seven No Trumps.

Easterby has his five-year-old in flying form and appears to have another valuable prize for the taking. Guinea Hunter is expected to outrun Ghazal, trained by Sir Michael Stoute who won the race back in 1978 with Vaigly Great.

Marcus Tregoning sends Albarahin all the way from Lambourn and the 720-mile round trip should pay off in the Daily Record Doonside Cup, while Great News, despatched from Newmarket by William Haggas, is the type to pop up at remunerative odds in the Tote Ayrshire Handicap.

At Newbury Grandera, runner-up to Sakhee at York and Medicean at Sandown, has been presented with a straightforward opportunity in the Dubai Arc Trial.

Nerys Dutfield’s Misty Eyed, unlucky at Doncaster last week, uses the Dubai Airport World Trophy as a stepping stone to the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Arc day next month. Lee Newman’s moun has Bishops Court to beat.

At Newmarket the Ian Balding-trained Distant Prospect can enhance his prospects of winning next month’s Cesarewitch by taking the Abu Dhabi Rated Handicap.