GOLD and silver, both are alike to David "Dandy" Nicholls, who is making the Ayr big sprints each autumn very much his own.

Friday's "consolation" race for horses balloted out of the Gold Cup, the Tote (Ayr) Silver Cup Showcase Handicap, was won by Tayif from the indomitable Sessay yard.

Kieren Fallon had the ride and outdid David Chapman's Sharp Hat (Dean Mernagh) a neck on the line.

Nicholls, who usually goes for these races mob-handed, sent out the fourth in Rudik (T Hamilton), dead-heating with Kevin Ryan's Debbie's Warning (F Lynch).

And for the second year running Nicholls snatched the Ayr Gold Cup on Saturday, newly-wed Darryll Holland swooping late on the Lucayan Stud's Continent to take the spoils.

Friday's cup win was only one leg of a double, Exeat winning earlier under George Duffield, who cracked in a treble.

Mark Johnston, a Goodwood standing dish, won on Wednesday there with Robandela, while neighbour Jedd O'Keeffe won with his first runner on the Sussex downs, Lone Piper.

Johnston had winners all over the country: Legal Approach and Bandari at Ayr on Thursday and Saturday, Fight Your Corner on Friday and Albuhera on Saturday at Newbury and Affray at Nottingham.

Tim Easterby won at the latter meeting with Court Music, at Catterick with Cumbrian Harmony and at Beverley with The Wife.

At that East Yorkshire meeting, Darryll Holland made no mistake with John Quinn's Smart Predator, unlucky at Epsom recently when half the stalls opened fractionally late.

Nigel Tinkler won at "headquarters" with Henry Hall, wife Kim Tinkler partnering this Newmarket venture. Kim always rides for Don Enrico Incisa, the Middleham trainer, and won for him on Lordofenchantment at Beverley.

Kevin Ryan and Les Eyre, both of whom train at the top of Sutton Bank, also had good wins this week and James Hetherton was among the Malton area trainers in good form.

Amateur Alan O'Keeffe, 17, had a first flat win riding for Scott Cunningham to add to a couple of earlier wins jumping for his boss, Ferdy Murphy.

The young Irishman is no stranger to winning, having landed some 120 pony races on his native turf.

Mary Reveley proved with Turnpole at Pontefract that older horses can still be useful.

Yesterday, as we went to press, her long-time stalwart Peter Niven was having his last rides as a jockey.

He is one of only six jumps pilots to have passed 1,000 career winners and he announced that he will train in the Malton area, where he has 20 empty boxes waiting for owners to fill.

Racing Week wishes the Scot, a good horseman as well as a jockey - they are not always the same thing! - every success in this new venture.

THE WEEK'S WINNERS

Key: Meetings shown below are Flat on turf, except where marked: NH = National Hunt (jumps) meetings; and AW = all-weather flat racing. * = evening meeting. f = furlong (8f = 1mile); chs = steeplechase; hdl = hurdles race; NHf = National Hunt flat race (bumper). Hb = homebred by owner or one of owners.

Thursday last week. - Ayr: (7f) Legal Approach (trained by Mark Johnston, at Middleham; owned by Maktoum Al Maktoum), ridden by Joe Fanning; (6f) Special Hero (Kevin Ryan, Hambleton; The Gloria Darley Racing Partnership), Fergal Lynch; (11f) Bold Amusement (Scott Cunningham, Hutton Rudby; Mrs Ann Bell), Mr Alan O'Keeffe.

Pontefract: (8f) Toejam (Ron Barr, Seamer; Hb, Mrs R E Barr), Paul Goode; (18f) Turnpole (Mary Reveley, Lingdale; Mr & Mrs W J Williams), Kevin Darley; (8f) Nigrasine (Les Eyre, Hambleton; Sunpak Potatoes), David Nolan.

Friday. - Newbury: (8f) Fight Your Corner (Mark Johnston; Greenland Park Ltd), Kevin Darley.

Ayr: (6f) Consensus (Mel Brittain, Warthill; Northgate Lodgers), Tyrone Williams; (9f) Exeat (David Nicholls, Sessay; Lady Harrison), George Duffield; (Silver Cup, 6f) Tayif (David Nicholls; J Herrington, P Forster, J Hames), Kieren Fallon; (10f) Pennys Pride (Mary Reveley; J Good), Dean Mernagh.

Nottingham: (8f) Affray (Mark Johnston; Abdullah Saeed Belhab), Keith Dalgleish; (6f) Court Music (Tim Easterby, Great Habton; I Bray), Willie Supple.

Saturday. - Newbury: Albuhera (Mark Johnston; D J & F A Jackson), Keith Dalgleish.

Ayr: (8f) Bandari (Mark Johnston; A Al-Rostamani), Kevin Darley; (Gold Cup, 6f) Continent (David Nicholls; Lucayan Stud), Darryll Holland; (7f) Arjay (Andrew Turnell, Malton; Dr John Hollowood), Fergal Lynch.

Newmarket: (5f) Henry Hall (Nigel Tinkler, Langton; James Marshall & Mrs Susan Marshall), Kim Tinkler.

Catterick: (14f) Live The Dream (James Hetherton, Malton; D Gladwin), Ollie Pears; (12f) Sing And Dance (John Weymes, Coverham; Hb, Mrs N Napier), Clare Roche; (7f) Cumbrian Harmony (Tim Easterby; Cumrian Industrials Ltd), Gyles Parkin.

Wolverhampton AW*: (81/2f) Avebury (Steve Kettlewell, Middleham; The Tupgill Partnership), Kieren Fallon.

Monday. - Hamilton: (81/2f) Swynford Elegance (James Hetherton; Wualitair Holdings Ltd), Dale Gibson.

Tuesday. - Beverley: (5f) Smart Predator (John Quinn, Settrington; (bred by Mrs M Shaw) B Shaw), Darryll Holland; (71/2f) The Wife (Tim Easterby; Jonathan Gill), Robert Winston; (71/2f) Lordofenchantment (Don Enrico Incisa, Coverham; Mrs Christine Cawley), Kim Tinkler.

Wednesday. - Goodwood: (12f) Robandela (Mark Johnston; Robert Aird), Joe Fanning; (5f) Lone Piper (Jedd O'Keeffe, Coverham; P Smith), Kieren Fallon.

Chester: (7f) Bacchanalia (Les Eyre; R Peel J Hopkinson M Binney G Frankland), Richard Hughes.

Perth NH: (hdl) Grizzly Activewear (George Moore, Middleham; Mrs Alurie O'Sullivan), Jim Crowley; (hdl) Ice (Steve Kettlewell; Uncle Jacks Pub), Tony McCoy.