Shoeshine Boy at Ayr today

A fine 4th place for Cowboy Cooper yesterday in the handicap hurdle. He should come on for the run, especially when conditions are more to his liking over the larger obstacles.

Ayr 21st January : 2.30 pm 3m ½f 0-120 Handicap Hurdle (Class 4)

Back across the country again today with Shoeshine Boy. Although his form dipped a little after winning at Hexham in October, coupled with the subsequent rise in weights, Shoeshine Boy comes into this race as a dual course and distance winner.
We hope he can be a bit more competitive though than in his last couple of outings.

In a similar vein to yesterday's handicap hurdle (previewed here), in a numbers sense the race is dominated by Scottish trainers and a trio from Hawick as well, including ourselves (if you include Paul Robson.....).

Gaillimh A Stor has been running to a consistently high standard since returning from a break and wind operation earlier this season.
A couple of placed efforts recently have seen him rise 5lb in the handicap which is hard to bear for connections without winning. A narrow runner up a couple of weeks ago here, he should go close again.
Lucinda's Lady In The Park was narrowly beaten by Shoeshine Boy 11 months ago over c&d and the 6lb swing in the weights favours the mare from Arlary, so we might have our work cut out to finish in front of this one.

Local trainer Mike Smith runs maiden hunter chaser/Point winner Buy Some Time. But this lad left that profile behind when winning twice over hurdles at Perth in July. That was on good Summer ground, so there must be a doubt whether the hurdling hat-trick can be achieved on the soft ground here.

Guernesey, a fairly useful handicap hurdler when with by Phillip Hobbs, is now trained just down the road by Jackie S. Now a 9yr old, he's been placed multiple times for his current yard but may need to drop a few more pounds before being able to notch another win. He should be competitive though and is not discounted.
Another 9 yr old having his 2nd race after an 18 month layoff is Rebecca's Pfiaff Bubbles. A promising reappearance when 5th last time under a conditional jockey, Nathan Moscroft is back in the saddle today and this 3 mile hurdle winner is handily weighted to go very close.

The likely favourite though is two-time winning hurdler (from just 4 outings) Mark Walford's Chasing The Blues. Taking a step up in trip by ½ mile from those wins, and subject of a rise in the handicap, this progressive sort may have a bit too much improvement in him for these mainly exposed handicappers. He's another with experience in 3 mile Points too. This 6yr old may take all of the beating.

Anyway, Murray Dodds claims his 7lb off Shoeshine Boy's back, so best of luck to him and Mouse Young's Mousetrap Racing gang.

Shoeshine Boy leads So Many Roads in an early season gallop