The opening day of the Ayr Gold Cup horse racing festival has been called off due to a waterlogged course.

An early morning inspection found that the course was saturated at the two and a half furlong post.

The venue was due to stage the first fixture of the popular three-day festival, with the Gold Cup itself due to take place on Saturday.

Thursday's eight-race card was set to feature the William Hill Doonside Cup, but officials called a check after the track was hit by a downpour of rain in the last 24 hours.

And they decided to cancel day one of the meeting shortly after 9am.

There will be another inspection at 8am on Friday ahead of the popular ladies day event.

Saturday's showpiece Gold Cup event is still scheduled to go ahead as planned.