Osborne backing Twilight to answer the call at Ayr

Saffie Osborne is confident she has a good chance of keeping her name in the headlines by winning the Ladbrokes Ayr Gold Cup on Twilight Calls.

The 24-yer-old’s feet have barely touched the ground since becoming the first woman to ride the winner of a British Classic on Highwayman in the St Leger last Saturday, and she has been among the winners this week, too, including an Ayr double on Thursday.

Those two victories came for trainer Richard Spencer, with whom she teams up again in this weekend’s Scottish feature as Twilight Calls bids to go one better than his half-length second to Air Force One in the Portland at Doncaster.

“I was quite frustrated after the Portland. I was probably drawn on the wrong side, but he’s not a horse that does a huge amount when he hits the front,” said Osborne.

“I didn’t really have a horse to take me into the race and he probably got a little bit lonely. The benefit of that (defeat) is that he goes here without a penalty, so he sneaks in at the bottom of the weights.

“He really suits these big races, he showed that when he won at Goodwood. When they go hard he really comes into his own, he’s a very good horse on his day and he retains a huge amount of that ability, he just needs everything to go right for him.

“He’s got a decent draw (19) and hopefully I can follow the right one. I suppose they came from lower numbers last year, but the bias changes every year depending on where the pace and the fancied horses are.”

Spencer won last year’s Ayr Gold Cup with Run Boy Run and he is back to defend his crown as one of four runners for the Newmarket handler, with Twilight Calls, Candy and Two Tribes completing the quartet.

Of Osborne’s mount, Spencer said: “There’s more to come from him. The race on Saturday at Doncaster didn’t pan out the way we’d have liked it to. It was on the far side and all happened away from him. He hit the front too soon, which was no fault of Saffie’s as he doesn’t do a lot when he hits the front.

“The handicapper has put him up 2lb and if he’d have won, he’d have had a 6lb penalty. In my eyes he’s going there well-in and he should have a good chance.”

Run Boy Run is out to become the first back-to-back winner of Ayr’s most prestigious Flat race since Heronslea in 1931, while Candy won the Silver Cup at this meeting 12 months ago.

Two Tribes will be ridden by David Egan, the jockey who partnered him to success in last year’s Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood.

“Run Boy Run has been relatively unlucky in a few runs this year and I think the ground is a big thing with him. He loves that ground up at Ayr, which is going to be soft, and he should go close,” Spencer continued.

“We’ve put some blinkers on him on Saturday which I think will help. We did it last year and we’ve waited to change it up slightly before the end of the year.

“Candy has been unlucky all year really. The ground’s going to be in his favour this weekend as he’s not had his ground all year. A few things haven’t gone right this season – the tack went on one occasion and then he banged his head one day.

“We’ll be taking our time on Two Tribes, I think. I think the ground is a big thing with him, six furlongs on soft ground is his bag. He gets seven very well and probably can get a mile, but the ground will play into his strengths back at six.”

All four horses carry the colours of Phil Cunningham, who said: “If you look back at last year’s Silver Cup, Candy carried more weight than Run Boy Run, was drawn probably on the worst side of the track and still ran a faster time.

“He’s had no luck at all this season, with lots of things having gone wrong with him. If Richard’s got that horse back in the same condition as he was this time last year, I think he could be the one.”