Trefor enters Ayr Gold Cup reckoning after York success The Ebor Festival opened at York with exciting finishes and notable performances across the card. Trefor strikes at York as Ayr Gold Cup bid looms Charlie Hills is eyeing a possible tilt at the Ayr Gold Cup with Trefor following his narrow victory in the opening race of the Ebor Festival at York. The four-year-old won at Doncaster and Ripon earlier this season and having been narrowly denied by Chief Mankato on his most recent appearance in a valuable event at Windsor nine days ago, he was a 7-1 shot for the curtain-raising Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool Handicap on the Knavesmire. He was all dressed up with nowhere to go two furlongs out, but once Kieran Shoemark got him into the clear and set about chasing The Man, he always looked likely to reel him in. Air Force One was not so lucky and had to wait longer for a gap, finishing fast for third, beaten a head and half a length. “I’m delighted to get his head in front, he deserved that. He was a bit unlucky not to win last week and he was well-in really,” said Hills. “I liked the draw today (stall seven), I think low numbers are always quite handy earlier on in this week and he travelled away like a really nice horse. “The Ayr Gold Cup is an obvious step from here, but the key to him is fast ground, so we just need to keep an eye on that.” Festival highlights include Santorini Star, Star Of Mehmas and Ruby’s Angel Santorini Star (100-30 favourite) returned to winning ways in the Sky Bet Stayers Handicap for William Haggas and Tom Marquand. Wins at Brighton and Goodwood earlier in the season were followed by defeats at Pontefract and Fairyhouse, but the step up to two miles brought out plenty of improvement as she won by a length and a quarter from Artisan Dancer. “Stepping her up to two miles maybe happened a bit more prematurely than we thought, but it suited,” said Marquand. The Richard Hughes-trained Star Of Mehmas (11-1) defied top-weight in the IRE-Incentive, It Pays To Buy Irish Fillies’ Handicap, narrowly denying Eternal Sunshine and Luna A Inbhir Nis in a three-way finish. “There wasn’t the perfect five-furlong race for her, so I said let’s take a chance in a handicap that’s worth loads of money and it’s paid off,” said Hughes. The Sky Bet Nursery Handicap brought the seven-race card to a close as Hugo Palmer’s Ruby’s Angel (33-1) collared Kevin Ryan’s Mo Of Cairo in the dying strides to open her account at the fifth time of asking. “York’s Ebor meeting is not the traditional place to break your maiden at the fifth time of asking but she has done it,” said Palmer.
