CROWDS will flock to Musselburgh Racecourse tomorrow (Saturday) for the Edinburgh Gin Scottish Sprint Cup raceday.
The seven-card meeting boasts £170,000 prize money and is under starter’s orders at 1.55pm with the £25,000 Edinburgh Gin’s Seaside Gin Handicap over 1m and 4 furlongs and which, along with the feature race, will be televised live on ITV4.
In the feature race, the five-furlong Edinburgh Gin’s Scottish Sprint Cup Handicap, last year's seventh El Astronaute, already a winner and a close second at York this term, is one of the market principals in a 16-runner field.
Trained at Malton by John Quinn, he was beaten by just over three lengths in last year’s contest by Paul Midgley's Line Of Reason twelve months ago, who returns looking for the double.
Scottish interest surrounds Iain Jardine's Mayleaf Shine and Keith Dalgleish's El Hombre while last Saturday's course and distance scorer Merhoob returns for an attempt at the £100,000 prize. Newmarket trained by John Ryan, Merhoob carries the colours of Morningside-based Gerry McGladery.
In the 4.20 Edinburgh Gin Distillery Tour Handicap, last year's first and third, Great Fighter trained by Jim Goldie, and the Keith Dalgleish trained Sebastian's Wish, both feature in the £25,000 race run over 2 miles.
Following on from last week’s Stobo Castle Ladies Day which attracted a 10,000 capacity attendance, the East Lothian track expects another bumper crowd.
Bill Farnsworth, Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, said: “With £170,000 prize money on offer and the thrill of the always popular Edinburgh Gin Scottish Sprint Cup, there will be a lot of quality on show and that will appeal to racing fans.
“With some decent weather, another healthy attendance tomorrow would be a great result following the success of last week’s sell-out race day and we will be pulling out the stops to make it a day to remember.”
Judy Murray, mum of tennis stars Sir Andy and Jamie, will be a guest of the racecourse and will co-present the Edinburgh Gin Scottish Sprint Cup to winners.
To find out more about what's on offer away from the track, or to book tickets, visit www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article