Perth Racecourse attracts crowd for Gold Cup Day

May 25 2010 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

ONE of the biggest meetings of this season at Perth Racecourse attracted a huge crowd to the Scone Palace Parkland venue for Perth Gold Cup day.

They morning’s heavy showers transformed the going from ‘good to firm’ to ‘good to soft’, resulting in a number of withdrawals from the seven-race card, but there was still plenty for racegoers to enjoy, not least the successes of two of National Hunt racing’s favourite characters, and a one-two for local trainer Lucinda Russell.

The appearance of 14-times champion jockey and Grand National winner (at last!) Tony McCoy would have been a crowd-puller, and he obliged by winning two races aboard horses trained across the Irish Sea by Gordon Elliott.

Ollie Magern trained in the south of England by Nigel Twiston-Davies has long been a racegoers’ favourite with his front-running style and cat-like agility, so he was a very popular winner of the feature race, the £13,000 three-mile Newwave Recruitment Scotland Perth Gold Cup Handicap Chase.

Despite being unfancied at 14-1 and carrying third top weight of 11st 8lb, the 12-year-old partnered by Paddy Brennan put in a class round of jumping to romp home by 12 lengths, ahead of the 3-1 favourite Sir Bathwick, closely followed by third placed Go Silver Bullet trained at Milnathort by Lucinda Russell.

Her old-timer, Catch the Perk, now aged 13, was sixth out of the Gold Cup field of 12 runners.

Lucinda was in the winner’s enclosure in the next race when Summer Soul was the clear winner of the Belucky@StanJames.com Handicap Hurdle ahead of his stablemate Corkage.

Next at Perth Racecourse is the two-day Perthshire Showcase meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, June 30 and July 1.