The 2011 Ayr Gold Cup is the highlight of this weekend’s racing and with 27 horses set to go to post for the six furlong showpiece; it looks a typically competitive renewal of the famous handicap.

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Every year the Ayr Gold Cup is one of the most daunting punting puzzles of the season and racing fanatics will be desperately looking to stay ahead of the handicapper and find a top class horse with the weight to land a blow in the contest.

There are sure to be plenty of clues on offer at Ayr in the build up to the race and we should know a lot more about the draw after the Bronze Cup on Friday afternoon, but for now it is worth focusing on the information we have at our fingertips as we look to unearth a big-priced winner in a fiercely competitive race.

Following the news this week that Sprint Cup third Hoof It was going to miss the race, Mac’s Power and Pepper Lane became many people’s idea of the winner and it isn’t hard to see why.

Pepper Lane has been most progressive this year and the Great St Wilfrid winner has already won four times in a fantastic season for trainer David O’Meara.  Her love for the undulations at Ripon racecourse have been there for all to see and though she had everything her own way last time out, there is no reason to think that she won’t put up a bold bid on Saturday.

Equally, James Fanshawe’s Mac’s Power heads to Ayr with an army of supporters hoping he can do the business and his form in big handicaps this summer will have his backers full of confidence.  He is sure to be suited by the frenetic pace of the Ayr Gold Cup and he will be looking to bounce back to form after he was never allowed to land a blow in a messy listed race that wasn’t run to suit last time out.

The likes of Hawkeyethenoo, Pastoral Player and Eton Rifles are also worthy of serious consideration, but there is one horse in the field that looks vastly overpriced and there is no way that HIGH STANDING should be as big as 33/1 (Victor Chandler) on the eve of the famous handicap.

William Haggas’ six-year-old is a high class individual and though he has never quite reached the heights of his four-year-old campaign, he remains a Group class sprinter on his day.  He proved as much last time out in the Supreme Stakes (Group Three) at Goodwood when he was an unlucky one-length third to Richard Hannon’s classy Libranno over seven furlongs.  Despite the fact that trip looks a furlong longer than ideal, High Standing was stuck behind a wall of horses at the business end of the race and he would have finished a lot closer to the winner if he was able to deliver his challenge.

A mark of 100 looks very fair for a sprinter that has plenty of Group One form and he is sure to be at home in the cavalry charge that will no doubt unfold in the Ayr Gold Cup.  Haggas will be hoping that there is no rain at Ayr in the build up to the race, but he does have form on soft (won the Group Three Shadwell Stakes in 2009) and he will relish the six-furlong trip.

Punters lucky enough to have backed the horse at 40/1 with Coral on Thursday evening and Friday morning will be delighted to see that his odds have taken a tumble, with Victor Chandler and then Ladbrokes (25/1) the only firms looking happy to lay the selection and those big odds.

He is sure to be late on the scene under the hands of Tony Culhane but with most firms going ¼ odds 1-2-3-4-5 places, he looks a fantastic bet for one with so much class in a field with plenty of exposed handicappers. 

Nick Wilby's selection - High Standing (33/1, Victor Chandler)