PAUL Cole hailed Baron Bolt’s thrilling dead-heat with Son Of Rest in the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup as “fantastic” for his Whatcombe stables, near Wantage.

The 28-1 shot burst out of the pack in the hands of apprentice Cameron Noble and chased down the Fozzy Stack-trained Irish raider, with the pair crossing the line together, well clear of the rest.

After an agonising wait of around seven minutes before the result was announced, Cole’s charge shared the £124,500 first prize with the 5-1 favourite.

Speaking from home, the veteran handler said: “It was a thrilling finish, they are two good horses, but I think it’s a great result for the race, a dead-heat - we’d have settled for that before.

“He was a little bit unlucky, but he’s a very nice horse and I think he deserves what he got there.

“He’d run over seven furlongs early in his career, but I think that was just me running him over the wrong trip. He’s definitely a six-furlong horse and he’s definitely getting better.

“I haven’t thought about anything after this, but it’s fantastic to win it, as it’s been a quiet season, so it’s good for the yard.”

East Ilsley trainer Hughie Morrison’s patience with Buzz was rewarded once more with the grey gelding adding to his three all-weather wins by landing the valuable Dubai Duty Free Handicap at Newbury.

The 9-1 chance, ridden by Charlie Bennett got up in the last stride to pip Mountain Angel by a nose and claim the mile-and-a-quarter contest’s £46,687 first prize.

Morrison said: “We’ve been waiting for the ground all year after a bad injury last year, and we have just had to look after Buzz, so all credit to the owners for letting me wait and wait and wait. It’s a very nice pot.

“He’s hard work and has his own way of doing things but he’s not unmanageable - just impatient. He could be one for the November Handicap, but we’ve got half a dozen of that type.”

Morrison completed a 64-1 double when 11-2 shot Temple Church ran out an easy three-lengths winner of the Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Handicap over a mile and a half, providing the middle leg of a treble for jockey Gerald Mosse.

Kirkland Forever struck at Brighton for Eve Johnson Houghton’s Blewbury stables, near Didcot, while Wantage trainer Henry Candy sent out Be My Angel to score a short-head success at Lingfield.