Ayrton headlines stacked Gold Rush field

The Gold Rush will headline the final day of The Pinnacles carnival at Ascot this Saturday afternoon, with a full field expected to clash over 1400m.

As it is the final feature event of 2023, the Group 3 race has been renamed as the ‘Damien Oliver Gold Rush’ to honour Australia’s greatest jockey, who will retire after the Ascot meeting this weekend.

Following the barrier draw on Tuesday, the Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr-trained Ayrton firmed into favouritism with online bookmakers at +380 after drawing gate 11.

The son of Iffraaj was last seen running sixth in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes, which is the best form of any of the interstate runners in the field.

Interestingly, the second emergency for the race, Super Smink, was the pre-draw favourite and still holds the second line of betting at +450.

If she gains a start, the three-year-old filly will be dropping back to 1400m after struggling to run out 1600m in the WA Guineas last start.

Nick Ryan will leg up his great mate Ollie for his final ride when he hops into the saddle to ride Munhamek (+450), who was a tragedy beaten in the Group 2 Damien Oliver at Flemington two starts back.

Dom To Shoot (+1000) will be on the seven-day backup after claiming the Group 1 Northerly Stakes last Saturday.

If 2023 Railway Stakes winner Bustler (+1000) backs up after running a credible fourth in the Northerly Stakes, he will have raced three times in the space of four weeks.

Luke Fernie will seek another big payday when his three-year-old gelding Ripcord (+600) attempts 1400m for the first time after finishing third in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes last start.

The Gold Rush 2023 Final Field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	Dom To Shoot	Sean & Jake Casey	Jarrad Noske	14	59kg
2	Valour Road	Simon Miller	Chris Parnham	16	59kg
3	Bustler	Neville Parnham	Steven Parnham	15	59kg
4	Munhamek	Nick Ryan	Damien Oliver	17	59kg
5	Red Can Man	Steve Wolfe	Paul Harvey	8	59kg
6	Massimo	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Brad Parnham	7	59kg
7	Comfort Me	Rhys Radford	Shaun McGruddy	3	59kg
8	Savatoxl	Will Savage	Holly Watson	1	59kg
9	Hot Zed	Lou Luciani	Jason Whiting	19	59kg
10	Ayrton	Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr	Damian Lane	11	59kg
11	Resortman	Michael Lane	Brad Rawiller	10	59kg
12	Laverrod	Sean & Jake Casey	Craig Williams	13	59kg
13	My Bella Mae	Dion Luciani	Patrick Carbery	18	57kg
14	Baby Paris	Colin Webster	Peter Knuckey	2	57kg
15	Karli’s Karma	Summer Dickson	Michael Poy	6	57kg
16	Ripcord	Luke Fernie	Clint Johnston-Porter	9	54kg
17	Let’s Galahvant (1E)	Daniel & Ben Pearce	TBC	4	59kg
18	Super Smink (2E)	Daniel Morton	Craig Williams	12	52kg
19	Magnificent Andy (3E)	Stephen Miller	TBC	5	59kg