Halmahera is ready to strike gold for Ryan

Halmahera, the 'nearly horse' who finally landed a major handicap at Doncaster last week, is on course to do battle again in this Saturday's £100,000 Tote Ayr Gold Cup.

The seven-year-old, who is part owned by the Sunderland striker Niall Quinn's wife, Gillian, lined up for last Thursday's Tote Portland Handicap having finished runner-up in four major sprint handicaps but finally led where it matters by getting up to short-head Injaaz in the final stride.

A 7lb penalty will make life much harder as he bids to land Scotland's biggest Flat race, but Thirsk trainer Kevin Ryan feels that the confidence of a win will help offset the extra weight as he bids for the richest success of his career.

"This horse had very little luck with the draw on several occasions before he ran at Doncaster and I knew he was ready to win when things dropped right," he said.

Darryll Holland, who came in for the ride on Halmahera due to an injury to Ryan's stable jockey Fergal Lynch, is expected to be in the saddle again on Saturday as he bids to add to last year's Gold Cup success on Continent.

However, Continent's trainer David Nicholls is expected to wait until later in the week before finalising riding plans for a team which is likely to be headed by the Kevin Keegan-owned Funfair Wane.